My Own Version of the Buffyverse 3
by BuffyL
Summary: NOT FADE AWAY is finally up! It's not the end, though. I'm BAAACK! Yes, it's finally here! The third installment of your favorite show. We've waited all summer for it! Come on in and enjoy!
1. Convictions p1

A/N YES YES YES! I am back with the third installment of My Own Version of the Buffyverse! You all have been waiting a whole summer for this and so have I! Also.. Great episode of Angel. I can't wait to see the next one. If the spoilers are all correct (which they should be) then I have an idea on how this story is going to go. So! On with the story!  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Buffy looked over at Angel. They had just gotten back from their honeymoon two days ago. He was slightly tanned, which was really cute. She on the other hand was extremely tan. They were in the elevator heading up to Wolfram and Hart. Last night has sucked for the two because a whole operative team had shown up and ruined their routine patrol. Angel was none too happy.  
  
"Sweetie?" Buffy asked, gently touching his arm.  
  
"I'm ok." Angel responded, giving her a tight smile.  
  
"No, you're not."  
  
"Buffy.."  
  
"I see right through you. And I know what's wrong. I'm not exactly ecstatic about this whole scenario either, but it's what we were dealt. At least we're there with friends, right?"  
  
Angel took her hand and smiled. "I love you."  
  
"I love you." They kissed each other lightly.  
  
The elevator dinged and opened. Buffy turned to go one way, while Angel turned to go the other. He stopped and turned, following Buffy out the other way. Gunn was standing in the lobby with Wesley. He smiled. "You lost, boss?"  
  
"On a lot of levels." Angel said. "Did you hear what happened to us last night?"  
  
"You got lucky?" Gunn winked at Buffy and she whacked him on the stomach. "Ow."  
  
"They put a tracer on me. Buffy and I were working the town, helping the helpless, which is a thing we like to do. All of a sudden, the entire firm shows up in the alley."  
  
"Not a pretty sight." Buffy added.  
  
"We'll make sure it doesn't happen again." Wesley said.  
  
"We're turning this place inside out. If they wanna see how I handle running Wolfram & Hart, they're gonna find out. Everything must go.." Angel opened both doors to walk into his and Buffy's office. He stopped his sentence abruptly and stared at the desk. "Starting with that."  
  
Buffy stared at the young woman wearing a red suit sitting on the edge of her and Angel's desk with her long legs crossed and accentuated as she sat under the accent light. She moved over to Angel and took his hand, ever the jealous wife.  
  
"Hi. It's really neat to see you guys." The woman said.  
  
"I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be mine and Angel's office." Buffy said.  
  
"Never happen again. Just wanted to, you know, see your faces."  
  
"You like to make an entrance." Angel said.  
  
"You always open both doors when you enter a room? I don't need to make an entrance. I need to make an impression. I'm gonna be your guys' liaison to the firm. I'll help you find your way. My name is Eve. And just so we get the whole irony thing of the way.." She picked up a shiny red apple from the desk and threw it to Angel.  
  
"Who do you answer to?" Buffy asked.  
  
"The senior partners, and if you're both thinking, which, by the way, you are, that you can use me to get to them, let go of the dream. I answer to them. I don't lunch with them."  
  
"Still.. a pretty powerful position for a young woman."  
  
"How exactly can you be sure I'm either of those things? Besides, look at yourself." Eve smiled and stood. "Ok, let me tell you how this works."  
  
"I thought we were in charge."  
  
"Of the Los Angeles offices of a multi-dimensional corporation. Now, I'm stressing that last word because that's what we are. We're a business, and we have a bottom line. Now, you could take your new client list and start hacking away from the top down. A lot of our clients are demons, and.. almost all of them are evil."  
  
"Almost?" Angel asked.  
  
"Things are always more complicated than they seem. You can shut this place down, but.. then.. well, then you wouldn't have it anymore. If the place closes down, the connections dry up. Evil goes next door. This is the catch.. I'm explaining the catch so you don't have to stand around wondering what it is. See, in order to keep this business running, you have to keep this business running. And that means keeping your clients.. most of them, anyway.. happy."  
  
"Means letting them get away with stuff." Gunn said.  
  
"Sweetie, they were getting away with it while you were all sitting around your hotel waiting for the phone to jangle. Well, you're on the ins now, and you can stop the worst of it. Maybe find some new solutions to some old problems. Come on! Isn't anybody excited? This is a crazy time of fun. The most powerful evil around has given a pivotal position over to its sworn enemies. You're not scared, are you?" Angel stared at Eve as he took a bite of the apple with a crisp crunch. "The client files are all in there. You might want to start going through 'em." Eve started to leave. "Hope you had a nice trip, cause the honeymoon's over." With that she was gone.  
  
"I really don't like her." Buffy said.  
  
"Why not? She was only invading your office, giving your husband the lusty eye, and putting you down in her conversation undertones." Gunn said.  
  
"All of the above. Plus, there's something off about her."  
  
"She works with the Senior Partners. Everything's off about her." Wesley said.  
  
"Good point."  
  
"You could always fire her." Gunn said.  
  
"Actually.. I have a funny feeling none of us can." Buffy looked at Angel.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Later that night.. As in WAY later that night, Buffy, Angel, Dawn, Lorne, Fred, Wesley, and Gunn were sitting around the conference table going through files. The table was full of papers and file folders and they were all exhausted. Buffy had given up and curled up in the chair, falling asleep against Gunn.  
  
"This is unbelievable." Angel said.  
  
"I think I've lost my appetite, which is kind of a first." Fred said.  
  
"Ditto." Dawn said.  
  
"Hmm, well, this is interesting. Apparently old Joe Kennedy tried to get out of his deal with the firm." Lorne said.  
  
"That explains a lot." Angel said.  
  
"Yeah, but George, Senior.. he read the fine print. There's no one these guys don't have a piece of."  
  
"How are we even supposed to start making things right?" Angel tossed a file on the table, startling Buffy awake. "Sorry honey."  
  
"It's ok. I was barely asleep anyway." Buffy said. "What'd I miss?"  
  
"Not a damn thing."  
  
"Here's a winner: Corbin Fries." Gunn said. "On trial for smuggling Asian girls in for cheap labor and prostitution. Been charged with drugs, gun running, nothing stuck."  
  
"And that's one of our human clients." Wesley said.  
  
"Looks like the trial's not going too well this time."  
  
"Hmm, first good news all day." Angel said.  
  
"I can't even remember which pile is which." Gunn said.  
  
"I'll get our secretary to go through it in the morning."  
  
"Do we have a secretary?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I imagine they'll find you someone who can stomach the idea of working for the side of the righteous." Wesley said.  
  
"My impression is a lot of these guys are just opportunistic. They'll go with the flow." Gunn said.  
  
"You know we're gonna have to check the whole staff, make sure we don't have any die-hard evildoers plotting against us." Buffy said.  
  
"And here I was, worrying about the clients." Wesley said.  
  
"We're doing the right thing.. right?" Angel asked.  
  
"Well, uh.. We're doing it tomorrow, exalted one. My horns are falling asleep." Lorne said.  
  
"Yeah. You guys go get some rest."  
  
"What about you?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I'll work a while yet. Go on." He kissed Buffy lightly.  
  
"Nah, I'll stay."  
  
"But you were asleep not ten minutes ago."  
  
"My eyes hurt. I was just resting them." Her tone had that "not taking no for an answer" tone to it, so Angel dropped it. "Gunn, you'll make sure Dawn is safe at home, right?"  
  
"You know it." Gunn said.  
  
"Night Buffy. Night Angel." Dawn said, giving each of them a hug and Buffy a kiss on the cheek.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
The next morning, Buffy and Angel had showered and changed and headed straight back for work. Buffy was in expensive designer jeans and a crisp, white, button down top with a black, V-neck sweater over it. Angel was in black pants and a burgundy, pinstripe shirt. She had her feet on the desk, still looking through files with Angel.  
  
Buffy set it down. "I need caffeine."  
  
"I think I do too." Angel said as he picked up an envelope that was mailed to Buffy. He handed it to her, but she put it aside without opening it. Angel pressed a button on the phone. "Um.. can I get a cup of coffee or something?"  
  
"You have reached ritual sacrifice. For goats, press one, or say 'goats.'" The phone said.  
  
Angel looked at Buffy and then hastily pressed the button, paused, and then tried again by pressing a different button. "Hello?"  
  
"This is Buffy and Angel's office. How can I help you?" A woman asked.  
  
"This is Angel."  
  
"No, this is his new assistant."  
  
"No, this is Angel."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
Angel glanced at Buffy. "Less and less." She smiled. "Can I get two cups of coffee? Or if there's blood.."  
  
"Oh! Right away."  
  
Angel pressed the button to hang up, but he switched to the previous line. "To sacrifice a loved one or pet, press the pound.." Angel hastily pressed the button to hang up, holding it down longer this time. He stared at the phone, disgusted for a moment. Buffy laughed and he shot a glare at her then went back to his papers. The phone rang and this time Buffy answered it on the speakerphone.  
  
"Hello?" She asked.  
  
"It's Wesley. Can I stop in? We might be into a situation."  
  
"Uh, sure. Come on by." Buffy hung up and glanced at Angel as he took the mug from the secretary. Then she glanced at the secretary and did a double take. "Harmony!?" Angel swallowed his blood hard.  
  
"Hey Buffy. Angel." Harmony said with a smile.  
  
"You're our secretary?" Buffy asked with slight horror in her voice.  
  
"Hello! Assistant."  
  
"Explain why I shouldn't kill you."  
  
"Secretary's fine."  
  
"No, it's not fine. Where is it fine? You've been working here?"  
  
"Yeah-huh."  
  
"Why?" Angel asked, moving to stand in front of Buffy.  
  
"Well, duh! I'm a single undead gal trying to make it in the big city.. I have to start somewhere. And they're evil here, they don't judge. They've got the necrotempered glass.. no burning up.. a great medical plan, and who needs dental more than us?"  
  
"This is bizarre." Buffy said.  
  
"Now, before you go threatening to fire me.."  
  
"I threatened to kill you."  
  
"Don't let's quibble. Before anything, just think.. I'm strong, I'm quick, I'm incredibly sycophantic.. if that means what that guy said.. and I type like a superhero.. if there was a superhero whose power was typing. And, hey, we keep the same hours. Creatures of the night.. And Slayer.. unite." Buffy scoffed as Harmony handed Angel his mug again. "How do you like your blood?"  
  
"Tell me that's not.." Angel started.  
  
"It's pig's blood. I'm totally off the human blood. That's not even a thing."  
  
"It tastes.."  
  
"Pretty good, right? The extra ingredient is otter. How's Dawn by the way?"  
  
Buffy stared at Harmony, ready to kill her. Angel jumped in front of Buffy. "She's at school."  
  
"Wow. Go her."  
  
Buffy was thankful when Wesley knocked, opened the door, and walked in. "It's one of our cases. It's becoming problematic." He nodded to Harmony. "Harmony."  
  
"Hey, Wes." Harmony said.  
  
"You knew that she was.." Buffy asked incredulously.  
  
"Wes is the one that picked me out of the steno pool."  
  
"But why.."  
  
"Well, I thought a familiar face would be just the thing in a place like this." Wesley said.  
  
"You turned evil a lot faster than I thought you would."  
  
"Nonsense."  
  
"We're gonna get along great, guys." Harmony said. "The whole gang. I mean, Cordy is gonna lose it when she finds out.." She noticed that Buffy, Angel, and Wesley were frowning. "I mean.. you are gonna tell her you're ok with this, right? I mean, I know she was mad at me for trying to kill you all, but she wouldn't.. I mean.."  
  
"I thought she knew." Wesley said apologetically.  
  
"Cordy's sick. She's in a coma." Buffy said sadly.  
  
"Oh. God, I.. I didn't.. What happened? Is she gonna be ok?" Harmony asked.  
  
"We don't know."  
  
"Cordy was my best friend, like.. my whole life. She's my role model. How can she.." Harmony breathed deeply, then was chipper again. "So, anyway, I really think you should not fire me, and Wes does, too."  
  
"Harmony, would you ask the men in my office to join us, please?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Righty-ho." She left.  
  
"If there's a way to help Cordelia, we will find it."  
  
"What's the case?" Buffy asked, ready to get off the subject of Cordelia. She had been a friend, but she had also turned evil and in turn turned Buffy and Angel evil and used Connor to get Jasmine out into the world and pretty much destroyed Buffy and Angel's little family and total happiness. She didn't want to dwell.  
  
Wesley handed Angel a folder. "Corbin Fries. The lowest piece of pond scum I've met in, oh, hours. He's about to get 20 years for kidnapping, pimping.."  
  
"We saw the file." Angel said, handing it back to Wes.  
  
"Yeah, well, personally, I think he deserves to be eaten by weasels, but he's hinting we'd best help him. Threatening, actually."  
  
The door opened and Angel turned to look. "Mr. Fries."  
  
"Mr. Fries, this is Angel and Buffy." Harmony said.  
  
"I've been bringing them up to speed on your case." Wesley said.  
  
"Terrific." Fries said flatly.  
  
"Desmond Keel." The lawyer said to Buffy and Angel, shaking their hands.  
  
"One of ours." Wesley informed.  
  
"Nice to meet you." Buffy said.  
  
"I've heard, uh, things." Keel said.  
  
"Would anybody like coffee?" Harmony asked.  
  
"Oh, yeah, let's all chit-chat and have tea and crumpets 'cause I got so much time." Fries said. "Here's the skinny: Tomorrow the D.A. puts my tit in a wringer for good and all, and that.. does not stand with me. Butt- munch here, he got his law degree at dog training school, and the prosecution has everything they've ever dreamed of."  
  
"Because you're guilty." Angel said.  
  
"Of course I'm guilty. What the hell are you changin' the subject for? The point is, when Holland Manners was running things, this would've never got to trial. Now, I bring a lot of money into this firm, more than most, and I don't do that so I can be handed over to the frickin' law. You gotta get me off."  
  
"It's strange, my lack of incentive."  
  
"You think I give a ferret's anus about your new regime here? Yeah, I know who you are, and I care to the sum of zero. You're my lawyers. And if you don't do every last thing to keep me out of jail, you will regret it."  
  
"Well, we can't dance around this one." Keel said. "We're not in a position to have anyone killed. Not that we would. And the jury's, uh, tamper- proof. Literally. I think one of the D.A.'s shamans has conjured a mystical shield around them."  
  
"So this one has to be won on the merits of the case." Buffy said.  
  
"Now, we have top men on this.."  
  
"Who are doing jack! I am not gonna be made an example of. Either you get me off tomorrow.." Fries said, checking Buffy out while he said it.  
  
"I think you should calm down and gets your eyes off of my wife." Angel said.  
  
"To hell with calm down and I'll check out that fine package of ass anytime I want. Either you get me off, or I drop the bomb."  
  
"Bomb?" Buffy asked, her face flushed and fists shaking with anger.  
  
"Let me put it this way: If they bring in a conviction, bye-bye, California. I say the magic word, the only people left standing are gonna be the ones that are already dead."  
  
"Oh, well, that's a relief." Harmony said. "I mean.. Hey!" 


	2. Convictions p2

Chapter 2  
  
"Blow everybody up?" Fred asked.  
  
"Well, he said 'drop the bomb.' We don't know what that means." Angel said.  
  
"We very nearly found out." Wesley retorted, glancing at Buffy.  
  
"What? I'm not allowed to hit people?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Not people capable of genocide."  
  
"Those are exactly the types of people I should be allowed to hit! Plus he had his greasy, oil stain eyes all over me. Perv."  
  
"Hey, back to the here and now, chickadees. Where do we stand?" Lorne asked.  
  
"We need to find out about this bomb and somehow disable it in case that jury comes in with a conviction." Wesley said. "We think it may have some mystical element."  
  
"Fries said, 'I say the magic word.' He could mean exactly that." Angel said.  
  
"Which is my department. We also think it probably isn't an explosive. This isn't the sort of man to risk his own life. So that could mean more magic.."  
  
"Or it could be a virus, ebola kind of thing." Fred said.  
  
"Right. The main thing is, any of this stuff could've come from right here. Keel, the lawyer, says he doesn't know anything, and I believe him." Angel said.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"He's terrified."  
  
"It's going around." Lorne said.  
  
"Fred, go through the lab records. See if Wolfram & Hart deals in viruses. Lorne, you're in the courtroom. Monitor the case. Let us know how it's going." Wesley said.  
  
"But lunch with Mary-Kate.. She was gonna tell me about Ashley's new piercing."  
  
"I paged Gunn 3 times. Still nothing." Harmony said.  
  
"Why isn't he here?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Why is she?" Lorne asked.  
  
"Long story." Harmony said.  
  
"Maybe not." Buffy shot back.  
  
"Oh, and I got Spanky's address." Harmony handed Buffy a slip of paper.  
  
"Spanky?" Lorne asked.  
  
"Freelance mystic. He's showed up in Fries' files a few times. Angel and I're gonna do some legwork." Buffy said. She grabbed Angel's wrist and looked at his watch. "Dawn should be getting off from school soon. She'll be coming here."  
  
"I'll watch her." Fred said. "She likes the science stuff."  
  
"Good. Thanks." Buffy took her coat from Angel and they headed to their private elevator. "Tell Dawn we'll be back later." The elevator doors closed and they descended into the motor pool. It was full of classic sports cars from every decade and one SUV that Buffy preferred.  
  
Angel looked at them, unable to decide. "Oh, God, they're so beautiful!" He chose a yellow 1970's era car opened the door.  
  
"Angel.."  
  
"What?" She motioned to the SUV. "But they're so pretty!"  
  
"They're pretty, yeah. But that SUV is made for damage. We may need it."  
  
Angel was about to object when Hauser walked out of the shadows. "Ma'am? Sir?"  
  
"Hauser, right?" Angel asked.  
  
"We got word there's a floater you wanted brought in."  
  
"How exactly did you get that word?"  
  
"That's my job, sir. You want us to bring him in?"  
  
"We'll take care of it."  
  
"Traditionally, my unit handles all the wet work."  
  
"I know you meant field work." Buffy said.  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Mm-hmm. We'll take care of it." She and Angel walked over to the SUV. "Later on, you can tell us all about tradition."  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Angel knocked on the door, and a 50-something man walked to the door in a sweaty tank top. "So what do you two want?"  
  
"We're here from Wolfram & Hart. Here about a job." Angel said.  
  
"Well, then.. get your butts in here. Pardon the sweaty. I was working out. Uh, either you want a drink? I got a pitcher of daiquiris."  
  
"No thanks." Buffy said.  
  
"You?" He asked Angel.  
  
"I'm good, thanks." Angel said.  
  
"So am I. And I'm about to be better."  
  
"Hmm. So tell me.." Angel was staring at a wall full of paddles and whips. "Why do they call you Spanky?"  
  
"I'm a big 'Our Gang' fan."  
  
"That's what I figured."  
  
"Look, buddy, I'm gonna be up-front with you. I got nothing against people doing their thing. It's a wide and wonderful world, but.. I don't spank men. It's not a judgment. Men have fine, firm asses. You've been to the web site, you know how much I work on mine. I wouldn't mind spanking your girl though. But when you said Wolfram & Hart, I assumed you were here about a mystical job."  
  
"We are. The one you did for Corbin Fries."  
  
"Yeah? Ok, I don't discuss my old jobs. Mystic-client privilege."  
  
"You're gonna tell us what you did for Mr. Fries. Now.. or very soon from now."  
  
"I built him a container, a mystical vessel. You can put anything you want in it."  
  
"Like a bomb." Buffy said.  
  
"A bomb, a curse, a golden retriever. Anything. I don't know what he wanted it for. The vessel just holds it until the magic word dissolves the vessel."  
  
"Ok, then, where'd you place the vessel?" Angel asked.  
  
Spanky kicked Buffy into a chair and lunged around behind Angel, putting his forearm in front of Angel's neck and squeezing. "You know what I'm doing now? I'm applying pressure to your windpipe. You'll pass out, and then I'll let Mr. Fries decide if he wants you to wake up again."  
  
"Do you know what I'm doing now? Not using my windpipe." Angel grabbed Spanky's forearm and twisted it around until Angel was behind him, still twisting his arm.  
  
"Vampire. So what's she?"  
  
"Slayer." Buffy said, standing in front of Spanky.  
  
"And there's something else you should know about me." Angel pushed Spanky forward a bit, still holding his arm, grabbed a cricket paddle from the wall, and swung it at Spanky, sending him across the room. "I have no problem spanking men." Buffy blinked, totally caught off guard. Angel grinned at her.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Dawn, Fred, and Knox were sitting on the floor going through papers that are strewn all over. "Oh, ok, this could be bad." Dawn said, reading something.  
  
"Bad what? How? Where?" Fred asked.  
  
"Wolfram and Hart did do some work with Fries on illegal pesticides, rodent killers, but this guy Lopez.."  
  
"The lab technician?" Fred asked Knox.  
  
"Yeah. I don't know him." Knox said.  
  
Dawn went onto the computer and typed for a minute. "Oh, ok. He was fired. Oh, no, I'm sorry. He was set on fire."  
  
"That's interesting." Fred said.  
  
"Kinda makes me miss the Hellmouth."  
  
"Set on fire for working with Fries?"  
  
"Maybe under the table. There's a link to his name. A cult.. 'The Black Tomorrow.' Oh, thrills."  
  
"I think you were right, boss." Knox said to Fred while he looked over Dawn's shoulder. "These guys specialize in quick-fire disease scenarios: Sarin gases and viruses."  
  
"Which you all built." Fred said, backing away and taking Dawn's hand with her.  
  
"Hey, no. We've contained more plagues than we've ever designed. I'm not all about destruction here."  
  
"We have to find out what he had access.." Dawn was cut off by the telephone ringing.  
  
Fred rushed for it. "Department of.. Fred.. Angel, yeah. It looks like our client might be playing with a virus. Spread by touch or maybe even airborne."  
  
"That's the bomb." Angel said.  
  
"Safe guess. So did you guys find out where he put it? Angel?"  
  
"Yeah. We found out where he put it."  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Buffy paced the office while Angel leaned against the desk. They were both pissed off at what Fries had done. Eve walked in and looked at the two of them. "Rough day at work?"  
  
"His son. He took a lethal virus, and he stuck it inside his son." Buffy said angrily.  
  
"Hits you where you live, doesn't it?" Angel stood and Buffy stopped pacing. "Of course I know. You two lost your son. Well, gave him up."  
  
"To save him."  
  
"Which you did. He's happy and well-adjusted now that he has no memory of you two, and the rest of the world, including your best friends, never even heard of Connor."  
  
"That's not a name I want passing through your lips." Angel said.  
  
Eve leaned into Angel. "And what would you like passing through my lips?"  
  
"News flash: I'm married and angry!"  
  
"I'm just curious how you two are gonna play it."  
  
"Well, we'll isolate the boy if it comes to that. Stop it.. from spreading."  
  
"Here's the news from this sector: If every case hits you guys this hard, you're not gonna last a week."  
  
"Now, I don't want you coming into our office again unless one of us asks for you. I don't want to hear another word right now unless you decide to start helping out."  
  
"How do you know I'm not?" With that, Eve left.  
  
"I told you I don't like her." Buffy said. Angel nodded. "She knew about Connor. How many other people know that aren't dead?" Angel wrapped Buffy in his arms and she laid her head on his chest. "Eve was right about one thing. The honeymoon is definitely over."  
  
"Are you gonna be ok?"  
  
"I miss him."  
  
"I do too."  
  
"I also miss everyone else. Willow, Faith, Xander, Giles.. They're so far away."  
  
"You can always call them."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Then go call them."  
  
"They're probably busy."  
  
"Oh, I see."  
  
"See what?"  
  
"You feel guilty for not going with them and helping find those Slayers."  
  
"Maybe a little."  
  
"Honey, they've got it covered. Giles understands that you're married and have responsibilities here. Besides.. If they needed you bad enough, they'd call and let you know. Right?"  
  
Buffy smiled into Angel's chest. "Yeah. Right."  
  
He kissed the top of her head. "Why don't we go home? Dawn's probably half asleep by now and she has school in the morning."  
  
Buffy nodded and let Angel lead her out.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
The next afternoon, Buffy and Wesley walked into the courtroom and sat beside Lorne in the very back row. "How's it going?" Buffy asked. Fries turned around and stared at them. "Never mind."  
  
"Yeah, so, what's the plan? You've got a plan?" Lorne asked. Buffy smiled at Lorne and Wesley sighed and opened his coat to give Lorne a glimpse inside at the gun he had.  
  
"That's only for backup in case I can't take down a courtroom full of humans.. And maybe some demons."  
  
"Oh, and here I thought we were desperate." Buffy shrugged. "Where's Angel?"  
  
"He went to the school in a helicopter. I thought my services would be better used here. You two could use a superhero as a just in case."  
  
"Well bless you for coming pumpkin. I think we could definitely use one if Fries gets convicted."  
  
"How are our chances?" Wesley asked.  
  
"What are the chances Michael Jackson will ever make another mega-hit song like 'Thriller?'"  
  
"If there are no more objections, I'll hear final summations." The judge said.  
  
Suddenly, Gunn walked in, in a fancy a pin-striped suit with a silk tie and expensive shoes. He walked into the room carrying an alligator-hide briefcase. "Your honor, the defense requests one more minute to confer."  
  
"Another defense lawyer. What a joy."  
  
"Uh, Your Honor, at this point, I'd like to cede the floor to my colleague Charles Gunn." Keel said.  
  
"So noted."  
  
Buffy, Lorne, and Wesley gawked as Gunn continued. "Thank you. Your Honor, the defense moves for a mistrial."  
  
"You are, of course, joking."  
  
"Your Honor, that's the second prejudicial remark you've made against the defense since I entered the room."  
  
"What are your grounds for requesting a mistrial?"  
  
"You are, Your Honor. I'm asking that you recuse yourself from this trial."  
  
"The thin ice you are on is over very deep water."  
  
"No judge shall be appointed to try any case concerning a business colleague or employee." Gunn picked up a file. "Permission to approach the bench."  
  
"These are..?" The Judge opened the file. "What are you doing with my tax records?"  
  
"The highlighted portions indicate stock in Oriental Bay Exports, which is owned by Loros, Incorporated, which in turn is owned by a consortium that includes the defendant, Corbin Fries."  
  
"I have brokers who do my.. You submit that I could possibly have known about this connection?"  
  
"I found out, and I've been on the case 6 hours."  
  
"The ice is melting, counselor."  
  
"The defense submits it has learned how to swim. I withdraw that statement with apologies." Gunn picked up a thick law book. "McCracken vs. The State of Maine,1954: 'Any financial dealings shall be deemed the responsibility of the interested party, regardless of number or function of employees unless said party has been judged mentally incapable.'" He put down the book. "Permission to approach. And furthermore, the strain on my client's several businesses has forced Oriental Bay Exports to shrink its holdings of late. If Mr. Fries is convicted, the interest your honor has in it would represent a controlling interest. I would prefer not to present the rest of our findings in front of the jury."  
  
"I'll see counsel in my chambers. Right now."  
  
Gunn turned and grinned at Buffy, Lorne, and Wesley.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Harmony brought a bottle of water to Eve as she chatted with Buffy, Angel, Wesley, Fred, and Lorne about Gunn. "It's very simple, really. Thank you. Charles agreed to let us enhance his mind with a comprehensive knowledge of the law."  
  
"Without asking us?" Wesley said.  
  
"Mother, may I?" Gunn retorted.  
  
"Without telling us?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Cause I knew you guys would freak. Look, it's me here. They didn't evil me up. All I got stuck in my head was the law. And for some reason, a messload of Gilbert and Sullivan."  
  
"Standard. Great for elocution." Eve said.  
  
"How can you possibly know they didn't do anything else?" Angel asked.  
  
"Cause I saw the man in the white room. He does a lot of scary things, but lying ain't one of them." Gunn said.  
  
"You needed a lawyer to get by here. Charles had the most unused potential. His degrees are all forged, but he's the real deal." Eve said.  
  
"You want me to sing for Lorne? I could give him a little 'Pirates of Penzance.' All of it, actually."  
  
"I would also point out that he did just save the day, without ever resorting to violence. How'd you do?" Eve asked Angel. She smiled. "I think you guys are gonna make it work. Yay, team. I'll see you around." With that, Eve left.  
  
"Of course, saving the day meant getting the scumbag who was ready to sacrifice his own son off on a technicality and then returning said son to said scumbag." Buffy said bitterly.  
  
"Fred and I have enough time to disable the charm now. He won't be in danger." Wesley said.  
  
"And Fries is gonna have to dial down the criminal activities 'til this thing comes to trial again. Which I can draw out for months." Gunn said.  
  
"Is this gonna be our lives now?" Fred asked. "Fighting our own employees, our own clients? Are we really gonna do any good?"  
  
"Yes, we are. We're gonna change things." Angel said. "We came to Wolfram and Hart because it's a powerful weapon, and we'll figure out how to wield it."  
  
"Or kill ourselves with it." Wesley said.  
  
"Yay, team." Fred said.  
  
"No, sooner or later they'll tip their hand, and we'll find out why they really brought us here." Buffy said. She picked up the envelope from the desk. "Meanwhile, we do the work.. our way, one thing at a time." She ripped open the envelope. "We deal.." Spike's amulet fell out of the envelope. "With whatever comes next."  
  
Immediately, the amulet activated. A black whirlwind erupted from it, causing papers on the desk to stir. The ashen whirlwind started to glow with flecks of orange as something began to materialize inside it. Angel grabbed Buffy and pulled her back as a man's skeletal form showed, then it gradually filled out until it was complete. The wind faded and Spike was standing there, screaming and grunting, in the middle of the office, right where the amulet fell.  
  
"Spike?" Wesley asked.  
  
Buffy blinked a few times and took a step forward. "Spike!?"  
  
"Spike." Angel said.  
  
Harmony stuck her head in the door. "Blondie bear?" 


	3. Just Rewards p1

Chapter 3  
  
Spike doubled over in pain, gasping, as he materialized in Buffy and Angel's office at Wolfram & Hart. He looked around him, panic-stricken, at the familiar faces. He saw Harmony, Lorne, Fred, and Wesley. "What.. what.."  
  
"What the hell are you doing here, Spike?" Harmony asked.  
  
"Harmony, please." Wesley said.  
  
"Spike?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Easy, slim. Easy. No one's gonna hurt you." Lorne said.  
  
"Speak for yourself, green jeans."  
  
"You're dead." Buffy said behind him.  
  
Spike spun around and looked at her as Harmony said, "Well, yeah. Who here isn't? Besides him," she pointed Wesley. "And him," Gunn. "And her." Fred. And her." Buffy. She looked at Lorne. "What are you again?"  
  
Buffy looked at Angel and then back at Spike. Angel's hands were still holding her hips and she stepped away and up to Spike. "Spike? Are you.."  
  
"What the hell is going on?" Spike asked.  
  
"It's ok." Buffy reached out to touch Spike's arm, but she went right through him, eyes wide. "Um.."  
  
"What? What's happened to me?"  
  
"Well, I'm no doctor, but I think you're a ghost." Harmony said.  
  
Buffy yanked her hand out of Spike. He looked at her. "I'm no.. I'm no bloody ghost."  
  
"Hey, Buffy's hand went right through you, pal. And you can't talk to me like that. We're not going out anymore."  
  
"Where'd he come from?" Gunn asked.  
  
"From this." Wesley said.  
  
"What is it?" Fred asked.  
  
"Something I gave to Spike before.." Buffy said, staring at Spike guiltily.  
  
"It's ok luv."  
  
"Oh God.. Faith.."  
  
"Faith! Is she.."  
  
"She's ok." Angel said.  
  
"Where.. where is she?"  
  
"Europe, last we heard from her and the others." Buffy said.  
  
"Wanna see her.. Wanna talk to her."  
  
"That's gonna be tough." Angel said.  
  
"You can't keep her from me."  
  
"She's not mine to keep.. or yours."  
  
"Says you. You got no idea what we had."  
  
"No, I don't.. But you never had her."  
  
"HEY! Back off you two." Buffy said, stepping between Spike and Angel.  
  
"Oh.. my.. God!" Harmony screeched. "You and the other slayer actually.. Yecch. That's just.. yecch." She walked away and stopped. "I.. yecch!"  
  
"I must be in hell." Spike said.  
  
"Uh, no. L.A., but a lot of people make that mistake." Lorne said.  
  
"So if I remember right, Spike's a good-guy vampire like Angel?" Gunn asked.  
  
"He's nothing like me." Angel scoffed.  
  
"Got that right. What have you done to me?" Spike asked. "What is this place?! What the bloody hell is happening?!"  
  
"Spike.." Buffy said sternly. "Calm down. We'll figure this out. I promise."  
  
The gang moved on to the science lab. Wesley was looking into a microscope while Fred scanned Spike with a beeping instrument. "So what are you then? Scanner girl?" Spike asked Fred.  
  
"I head up Wolfram & Hart's Science Department." Fred said.  
  
"Wolfram & Hart. Buffy told me about it. I've always been under the impression that it was a law firm."  
  
"It is, among other things."  
  
"Also heard they represent the worst evil in the universe."  
  
"It did, among other things, but now we're in charge." Buffy said, standing in front of Spike.  
  
"Weird." Fred picked up a folder. "I'm getting electromagnetic readings consistent with spiritual entities, but there's no ectoplasmic matrix."  
  
"Meaning?"  
  
"Ectoplasm's what makes ghosts visible to the human eye. If he's a ghost, technically we shouldn't be able to see him. And I'm detecting brainwave activity."  
  
"On Spike?" Angel asked. "That is weird." Buffy shot him a look and he shrugged.  
  
"Also, ghosts generally absorb light and heat energy making the area around them a few degrees cooler. Spike's radiating heat."  
  
"Think I'm hot, do you?" Spike asked.  
  
"Mm.. lukewarm. Just above room temperature." Buffy joked.  
  
"Well, what the hell am I then?"  
  
"Whatever he is, it's clearly tied to this amulet. Spike's essence, for lack of a better term, must have been held within it." Wesley said. "Do you have any memory of a strange sensation when it released its energy?"  
  
"What? You mean my skin and muscle burning away from the bone? Organs exploding in my chest? Eyeballs melting in their sockets? No. No memory at all. Thanks for asking."  
  
"Ok, he's connected to the amulet. Last I remember it was buried deep inside of the Hellmouth. How did it end up here?" Angel asked.  
  
"Maybe he's here for a reason. You know, some higher purpose or something he's destined for. Sent to us by the powers that be to help us or.." Fred started.  
  
"Who gave them the bloody right to do that?" Spike asked. "Can't a man die in peace without some high almighty deciding it's not his time. Let's have a little more fun with him, eh? You think that saving the sodding world would be enough to earn me a rest. You'd think.." Spike started to fade.  
  
"Spike?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Hmm?" He looked at his body. "Oh, balls." Then he disappeared.  
  
Fred went over to scan where Spike was standing and Gunn asked, "Now what?"  
  
"I don't know. He just.."  
  
"Where'd he go?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Hmm? What? What?" Spike asked from the other side of the room.  
  
"Took the 'what's' right out of our mouths." Lorne said.  
  
"Where'd you go?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Don't you know?" Fred asked.  
  
"I'm.. I was.." Spike stopped and looked at Angel. "You! This is your fault."  
  
"Mine?" Angel asked.  
  
"You brought that bloody amulet to Sunnydale. You would have been the one to use it, until you chickened out."  
  
"What did you.."  
  
"You heard me! You didn't want to wear it, so you pawned it off on me! I see how it is."  
  
"Buffy made me. She wouldn't let me wear it!"  
  
"And this, bloody hell, wasn't mine. I'm not you. I don't give a piss about atonement or destiny. Just because I got me a soul doesn't mean I'm gonna let myself be led around by.."  
  
"E-excuse me?" Fred asked.  
  
"Did.. did you just say.. Spike has a soul?" Wesley asked. "Neither of you ever said anything about that!"  
  
"Didn't seem worth mentioning, you know." Angel said.  
  
"We just.. We didn't think it was necessary." Buffy said.  
  
"Seems to be a lot of that." Gunn said.  
  
"Or maybe Captain Forehead was feeling a little less special. Didn't like me crashing his exclusive club.. another vampire with a soul in the world." Spike said.  
  
"Spike.." Buffy warned.  
  
"You're not in the world.. Casper." Angel shot back and then walked away.  
  
"Angel!" Buffy went after him. Angel walked down the hall toward the lobby, and Spike materialized behind him and Buffy.  
  
"Running away. Nice new M.O. I can see why heroes like you get rewarded with the shiny new glass and chrome. Why didn't I think of that?"  
  
"I'm not responsible for what happened to you." Angel said.  
  
"Angel, it's almost three o'clock. You and Buffy have a meeting scheduled.." Harmony said.  
  
"Not now, Harmony." Buffy said.  
  
"And here you've even managed to get my ex-tumble, the littlest vampire, fetching coffee for you. Nice perks for the sell-outs."  
  
"Hey! What'd I do to you?"  
  
"Little tip, Spike: Try not to talk about things you don't understand." Angel said.  
  
"I'm not the prat here. I know you, Angel. What do you think you two are doing? Made some devil's bargain to take over this company. Thought you'd use it to fight the evil of the world from inside the belly of the beast. Trouble is you're too busy fighting to see you and yours are getting digested."  
  
"Not gonna happen."  
  
"Oh, you think you're in control here? Guess again, mate. Neither of you are more in control than I am. Except I'm not gonna bloody stand for it, while you're just a blind.. Grox'lar Beast."  
  
"What?" Angel and Buffy turned to see the Grox'lar Beast had just stepped out of the elevators behind them. Angel threw a punch at the demon, but the demon punched him back, knocking him down. Spike threw a punch at the demon's head to distract it from Buffy, but his fist went right through without making an impact.  
  
"Oh, brilliant." Spike said as the demon went toward Buffy. She ducked and punched, giving as good as she got and they continued fighting hand-to- hand. Buffy finally overpowered the demon, throwing him against the wall, and knocking him out. She helped Angel up.  
  
"Somebody want to tell me how a Grox'lar Beast got past security? We don't have time for this." Angel said.  
  
"Of course not. Man's gotta stay focused on profit margins and power lunches."  
  
"Angel.." Harmony said.  
  
"Yeah, Spike? Buffy and I've got a business to run. That means responsibilities, appointments to keep." Angel said.  
  
"That was your three o'clock."  
  
"That.."  
  
"We're meeting with Grox'lars?! They eat babies!" Buffy said.  
  
"Just their heads. You were supposed to open negotiations with his clan." Harmony said.  
  
"Negotiations for what?" Angel asked.  
  
"Get 'em to stop eating baby heads." Gunn said, walking in.  
  
"Oh. So that's good. Oh, so this.. this is bad." Buffy said.  
  
"No, actually the Grox'lar clan respects someone who takes a strong opening position. Wolfram & Hart didn't just jack me up here with the human laws, also demon laws from every dimension. Probably should have been briefed you about the Grox'lar, but we got a little.. sidetracked. Plus I've been implementing our reforms. Mostly staff overhaul. I've fired 40 employees in the past 2 days."  
  
"How's that going?"  
  
"As expected. Anger, tears, venomous death threats." Buffy followed Gunn into his office, Angel close behind. "Caught an associate we laid off trying to smuggle this out of the voodoo division." Gunn held up a voodoo doll that had black skin and was wearing a suit just like Gunn's.  
  
"It's a nice likeness." Angel said.  
  
"This place just goes on and on, doesn't it? Like a ruddy theme park attraction." Spike said.  
  
"We're in a meeting, Spike."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't care."  
  
"Buffy!"  
  
Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Angel, I don't have time for this. I suddenly have a headache and I can't figure out why. Gunn, let's just get back to the matter at hand and Angel and Spike can work out their differences later. Ok?"  
  
Gunn nodded. "Look, we're ruffling a lot of dangerous feathers out there. There's gonna be a backlash. Count on it."  
  
"Well, we'll just have to ride out the ripples for a while."  
  
"I'm sensing a ripple on its way now."  
  
A man wearing a loud blue dress shirt and a spotted yellow tie walked in the room. "Yes, uh.. Novac. Uh, what's this about you guys shutting down the Internment Acquisitions Division?"  
  
"Internment Acqui.." Buffy started.  
  
"Grave-robbing." Gunn clarified.  
  
"Listen, I know you all are in charge now, and you're doing a bang-up job. I'm with you 110%, but that department brings in mucho revenue to this company." Novac said.  
  
"Well, Novac, we'll just have to tighten our belts and do without." Angel said.  
  
"No, you're not getting it.. sir. I.A.D. is under contract to provide fresh bodies to Magnus Hainsley. You know who he is, right?" Buffy, Angel, and Gunn stared. "Oy. Ok. He's one of our oldest clients. Big potatoes. We stop delivering, and he is not gonna be.. thrilled."  
  
"Then he's probably not gonna like it when you advise him that he's no longer our client."  
  
"Me?"  
  
"You got it, counselor. You tell Mister.."  
  
"Hainsley." Buffy said.  
  
"Hainsley, that Wolfram & Hart is under new management and out of the grave- robbing business. Now, run along and go argue your case."  
  
"Me?" Novac asked.  
  
"Go."  
  
Novac walked toward the door, shuddering at the thought of his assignment, when Spike addressed him. "You don't have to take that from him, mate."  
  
"Stay out of this, Spike. You don't work here."  
  
"Damn right I don't. Look at you. This is what you do now? Delegate the dirty work to spineless, low-level flunkies. No offense." Spike added to Novac. "The mighty hero reduced to a bloody bureaucrat with his wife running behind the curtains."  
  
"Get out of here, Spike."  
  
"Gladly. Cruel enough punishment being stuck here as a spook while you play 'Chairman of the Boring.' But hell if I'm gonna spend my afterlife in your stinking city. Get stuffed." Spike walked away.  
  
Buffy stared angrily at Angel and then walked out. Angel looked at Gunn and then followed Buffy. She went into their office. "Sweetheart.."  
  
"Did you have to be so damn mean to him?" Buffy asked.  
  
"What?! You're taking his side?"  
  
"You're acting like a three year old!"  
  
"Buffy.."  
  
"No. I don't want to hear it. Why can't you play nice with Spike? He was a friend. Still is in my book. He sacrificed himself to save us. He didn't have to wear that amulet, but he did."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Then why so mean?"  
  
"You've been all 'YAY SPIKE' ever since he showed back up here."  
  
"Because he's a friend. Angel, this is ridiculous. Will you just play nice?" Angel sighed and stared at her. "Angel?"  
  
He rolled his eyes. "Fine."  
  
"Thank you." 


	4. Just Rewards p2

Chapter 4  
  
Angel sat alone in a chair staring out the window. Buffy walked in from the lobby and looked at him. She was about to say something, but Angel beat her to it. "You don't think he's really gone, do you?"  
  
"That what's on your mind?" She asked tenderly.  
  
"Could have been me, Buffy. Was supposed to be me."  
  
"Or me."  
  
"It would never have been you. You know I would never have let you."  
  
"You're not feeling guilty are you?"  
  
"About Spike?" Angel sat at the desk. "He's not.. that's not.. that's not.. Wolfram & Hart gave us the amulet. They must have expected ME to use it. And they had to have known it would've done to me what it did to Spike, so.."  
  
Buffy walked over and sat on the desk in front of Angel. "Why bother handing us the keys to the kingdom?"  
  
Angel took her hand and laid their clasped hands in her lap with a sigh. "Doesn't make sense. What are the senior partners playing at?"  
  
"Maybe there's a disagreement in their ranks, or maybe there's another player in the game they.. and we don't know anything about. Then again, maybe they got exactly what they were after."  
  
"Spike."  
  
"He may be the one they.."  
  
"What are you doing here? I thought you left town."  
  
Buffy realized Angel wasn't talking to her. She turned to see Spike standing there. "Don't think I didn't bleeding try. Every time I got as far as the city limits I kept popping back here like my insides are getting yanked."  
  
"Wesley said the amulet's Wolfram & Hart's property. It's bound to this place, and since Spike's connected to it.." Buffy said.  
  
"Hey! I'm nobody's bloody property, Ducks. So what? I'm just stuck here forever? I bet you're loving this, aren't you?" Spike shot at Angel.  
  
"Knowing you'll be haunting me till the end of time? Hmm. It's a dream come true." Angel said sarcastically.  
  
Harmony knocked on the door. "Uh, guys? That Novac lawyer you sent over to dump the client.. well, he's back."  
  
"Ok, send him in."  
  
"Mmmm... Ok." Two men in suits walked into the room carrying three buckets full of a sloppy red liquid, one with a bright yellow spotted tie hanging over the edge, covered in blood.  
  
"What is.." Buffy asked.  
  
The men placed the buckets on the desk. Spike chuckled, looking in the buckets. "Ol' buckets here was right. You guys are doing a bang-up job."  
  
Angel walked out of the office. Buffy sighed and followed. He walked up to Harmony's desk. "Harmony, get me Novac's contact list, close relations, next of kin, and let's be discreet about this for the time being, ok?"  
  
"Discreet? Oh, you mean like not tell anyone about bucket-o-lawyer." Harmony said.  
  
"Harmony, contact list."  
  
Wesley and Gunn walked off the elevator and walked up to Buffy and Angel. Gunn handed Angel a file. "Hey, got word you two wanted the file on Magnus Hainsley. Dig this. He's a sorcerer, big time. Rich with old money and older mojo. Owns a respectable block of shares in Wolfram & Hart and he's connected up the wazoo. Carries influence with power players in the entertainment industry, politics."  
  
"He's a necromancer." Angel said.  
  
"A who-der-what-der?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Power over the dead. That explains the bodies Wolfram & Hart's been providing him." Wesley said as they headed back to Buffy and Angel's office.  
  
"But not what he's been doing with them. Out of my chair." Angel said to Spike.  
  
"Make me." Spike said.  
  
"Can I have the chair Spike?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Certainly." Spike stood and graciously moved for Buffy with a smirk at Angel.  
  
"What's in the buckets?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Your man Novac. Guess he's been.. what do you call it?" Spike looked at Buffy. "Downsized."  
  
"Spike, that's gross." Buffy said.  
  
Spike smiled at her. "I only save those for you, luv."  
  
"Gee, thanks."  
  
"It's a message from Magnus Hainsley, and I'm gonna reply to it personally." Angel said.  
  
"You can't take Hainsley on yourself." Buffy said.  
  
"I'm not gonna risk him turning somebody else into chowder. Especially my wife."  
  
"Angel, you have a multi-billion dollar company at your disposal with armed and trained personnel." Wesley said.  
  
"They cramp my style."  
  
"Your style's not gonna cut it with a Nemo-flayer. We should probably avoid an eye-for-an-eye thing here." Buffy said.  
  
"Not going for his eyes."  
  
"I know what you should go for." Angel stopped the elevator doors before they closed. "It'll hurt him. Bad."  
  
Buffy and Angel walked out of the elevator into the garage. He decided to let Buffy go because she threatened him with no sex for a month. Their cars were lined up along the wall. He walked toward a black Viper and opened the door for Buffy. She started to sit in the passenger seat when Spike said, "Knew you'd pick the Viper. So bloody predictable."  
  
"Spike, get out of the car." Angel said, grabbing Buffy before she fell.  
  
"No."  
  
"What?"  
  
"This haunting-you-till-the-end-of-time idea of yours is starting to sound appealing. I could drive you completely starkers, right out of your gourd. Yeah, and you wouldn't be able to do a sodding thing about it." Angel slammed the door and walked over to the next car, a silver Camaro. Spike was sitting inside the car in the passenger seat. Angel groaned. "Fancy a road trip. This'll be fun, eh? You and me together again. So.. where are we off to?"  
  
"To see the wizard."  
  
"Spike, backseat now." Buffy said, standing at the open door.  
  
"Oop, sorry luv." Spike stood up, torso sticking out the top of the car, and sat in the backseat.  
  
"Why are you nice to her?" Angel asked.  
  
"Cause she's nice to me."  
  
Angel sighed and started the car, peeling out of the garage. The butler let Buffy, Spike, and Angel inside Hainsley's house. "Do you have an appointment with Mr. Hainsley?"  
  
"Let's just say he sent us an invitation." Spike said.  
  
"We're from Wolfram & Hart." Angel said.  
  
"I'm their date."  
  
"Mr. Hainsley is with a customer at the moment. I'm afraid he does not suffer interruption lightly." The Butler said.  
  
"Not so worried about his suffering. Go ahead and interrupt." Angel said.  
  
"As you wish. Please wait here." He left.  
  
"Oh, life among the power elite. It's all so civilized. Hainsley grinds up one of your people into chum, and you drop by for tea."  
  
"I'm hoping to avoid a body count here." Angel said.  
  
"Looks like this Hainsley keeps one on hand." Buffy said, walking into another room. Spike and Angel followed. The room was decorated like a Victorian parlor, complete with a few dozen people standing around posed, as if it were a wax museum.  
  
"Man likes to play with dollies." Spike said.  
  
"This isn't for him. It's a showroom." Angel said.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe the geezer's just lonely. Throws himself a surprise party every night. Picks out one of these painted pigeons and shows her a good time, if you know what I mean." Buffy gave Spike a glare. "What? I'm sure they don't mind."  
  
"Yeah, I mind." Buffy said.  
  
"Why? They're the lucky ones, aren't they? It's over for them. They've shuffled off, cleanly, the one time. Nobody's shoving them back into the stinking world against their will."  
  
"I know how that feels."  
  
"I know you do."  
  
Buffy gave Spike a slight smile as they shared a moment. They were all interrupted by the Butler stepping back in. "Mr. Hainsley has asked that I send you back to Wolfram & Hart." He revealed that he was holding butcher knives behind his back. "In a manner of speaking." The butler played menacingly with the knives trying to intimidate the three.  
  
"Uh-oh. Looks like it's buckets for you two." Spike said. Angel reached for a tiny teaspoon being held by a posed person beside him. He threw the spoon at the butler, and it landed in his forehead. The butler screamed. "A spoon?! That's just.." The butler reached up to his forehead, pulled the spoon out, and turned toward Angel angrily. "Well, ok, that's more.." The butler collapsed. "Disappointing, really."  
  
"I know you can't help us, but could you maybe not root for the other team?" Angel asked.  
  
"Hey, I'll root for anyone with half a chance of taking you down a notch."  
  
"What is your problem?"  
  
"You are, ya ponce! You're my problem. You got it too good. You're king of a 30-floor castle, with all the cars, comfort, power, and glory you could ever want, and here I save the world, throw myself onto the proverbial hand grenade for love, honor, and all the right reasons, and what do I get? Bloody well toasted and ghosted is what I get, isn't it? It's not fair."  
  
"Fair?! You asked for a soul. I didn't! It almost killed me. I spent a hundred years trying to come to terms with infinite remorse. You spent 3 weeks moaning in a basement, and then you were fine! What's fair about that?!"  
  
"Are you getting blurry, or is it.." Spike faded and disappeared.  
  
Angel grunted from frustration, then walked away. Buffy sighed and followed. She felt like she always just sighed and followed Angel lately. Hainsley was rinsing his hands out when Angel broke the door down.  
  
"Come in. It's open." Hainsley said.  
  
"Hainsley." Angel said.  
  
"Didn't know it was the head cheese themselves. I thought for sure you were another lackey. You should show more respect."  
  
"Oh, uh, I can see you guys have a thing going on." The woman on the table said, getting up and walking to the door. "Don't wanna get in your way. I'll let myself out."  
  
Buffy grabbed the woman by the arm as she walked by. Her eyes glowed red and she snarled at Buffy. The Slayer punched her out and then turned to Hainsley. "So how much do you charge, huh? Installing the average demon in a human body? I'm sure a lot of them would love to pass as people. You know, walk amongst the sheep."  
  
"Believe me, friends, the average demon can't afford it."  
  
"We're cutting off your supply, Hainsley. As of now your body shop is.. AH!" Angel cried out. With a flick of his wrist, Hainsley took control of Angel's body, freezing him in place.  
  
"Angel!" Buffy yelled. "Let him go."  
  
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Hainsley turned his hand, causing Angel pain. He made Angel punch Buffy so hard, she was knocked out then he pulled Angel toward him. "I eat the dead for breakfast. And you're just another plate o' bacon and eggs." Spike showed up behind Angel. "A ghost, huh? You two brought a ghost as your backup, vampire?"  
  
"I'm not here to back him up. I just haunt the bastard."  
  
"Stay out of this." Angel said.  
  
"Oh, stick it far as it'll go. You go ahead, wiz. Do what you want."  
  
"What I want is to turn you inside out, like a shirt. I could dust you right now, boy. Wouldn't even need a stake." Hainsley let go of Angel, who grunted from the pain he was in. "But that would be too big an insult for the senior partners to overlook. Seems that they've got plans for you."  
  
"I've got plans of my own." Angel said, helping Buffy up. He dialed his cell phone. "Gunn, do it."  
  
"And what was that? Just call in an air strike?"  
  
"He just froze all your bank accounts, terminated your paper assets, and turned your books over to a very motivated contact we have at the I.R.S." Buffy said. "5 minutes from now, you'll have nothing but this house. 10 minutes from now, that'll go into foreclosure."  
  
"You can't do that."  
  
"We'll let ourselves out."  
  
"It's not legal. You think you can get away with that? I'll sue you both to hell."  
  
"Good luck. We're your lawyers." Angel said.  
  
"This isn't over."  
  
Spike followed Angel and Buffy to the foyer. "That's how you're gonna fight the forces of evil now.. call the I.R.S.?"  
  
"Whatever it takes." Angel said.  
  
"Hello, I.R.S.? Will you fight my battles for me? And while you're at it, will you wipe my wide, spotty.." Spike disappeared.  
  
"Oh, thank God."  
  
Gunn followed Buffy and Angel into their office. "Wiped out every asset we could find on Hainsley. Wasn't easy. Man's got his fingers in a lot of dirty pies."  
  
"Yeah, well, I think pies are gonna be off his menu for a while." Angel said.  
  
"Yeah, well, it's gotta hurt. I mean, damn, who doesn't love pie?"  
  
Fred and Wesley walked into the room. "You guys are back." Fred said.  
  
"Hainsley out of business?" Wes asked.  
  
"Yeah, for the time being." Buffy said.  
  
"So he's not going away?" Fred asked.  
  
"Well, I think that, 'this isn't over yet,' may be the tip off. Look, guys, can we get back to our, uh, spiritual crisis?" Angel asked.  
  
"Yes. Spike." Wes said.  
  
"Popped out on us at Hainsley's place. But we all know that he'll be back and back and back, and I really don't want that happening again, so explain to me how we're gonna get him out of here."  
  
"He can't get out of here." Fred said.  
  
"Please don't tell me that."  
  
"Ok. Wesley.. you tell him."  
  
"I've had my entire department doing thorough research on the amulet." Wesley said. "There's not much. Not in the way of releasing Spike from it, anyway. At least not in the conventional sense."  
  
"And what's the unconventional sense?" Angel asked.  
  
"Something he asked for. Eternal rest."  
  
"Wait, you want to exorcise Spike?" Buffy asked.  
  
"This is an unusual situation, but I think it's our only choice." Angel said.  
  
"It's what we'd do in any case of a haunting, isn't it? An exorcism of sorts." Wesley said.  
  
"We're talking about killing him!" Fred said. "I mean, I know he's already dead, but.. he'd be gone-dead. Forever. It just doesn't seem right."  
  
"I agree, but neither is leaving him here, trapped between realms, with no control over his fate, not able to touch anything, affect anything. Unable to fight. Letting him cross over seems the most merciful thing.."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, mercy. I'm all for it. Just, hey, tell me how we do it." Angel said.  
  
"The amulet's protected, invulnerable to anything, but.. the magic that's protecting it doesn't work on hallowed ground."  
  
"Hallowed. Like a church?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Or cemetery, yes. It has to be taken there and destroyed."  
  
"Destroyed how?" Fred asked.  
  
"I think a sharp blow would probably do the trick."  
  
"Wait! No." Buffy said. "I've been too quiet since Spike got here and I get to say something. Spike's my friend. I don't care if any of you like that, but he is. I can't just let you take his fate into your hands. You don't have the right to decide that. None of us do. If Spike wants to finally rest then we'll let him tell us. Don't just settle on 'it's for the best.' I've been put in the middle of you two and I'm really tired of it. I'm taking Spike's side on this. You tell him and you let him decide if it's for the best." Buffy grabbed her coat, near tears, and left. 


	5. Just Rewards p3

Chapter 5  
  
Angel walked into his, Buffy, and Dawn's apartment and walked into his and Buffy's bedroom. Buffy stood in front of the large window staring out at Los Angeles. She was in a pair of white shorts and a black tank top. Her hair was pulled into a loose braid in the back.  
  
"Nice bed hair." Angel said.  
  
"I let Dawn mess with it." Buffy said.  
  
"Are you ok?"  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
"Does Dawn know?"  
  
"Yes. I don't keep things from her anymore."  
  
"Good."  
  
"I'm going to bed."  
  
"I'll be in, in just a minute."  
  
Ten minutes later, Angel walked back in from the bathroom in a pair of baggy PJ pants and climbed under the blankets with a big sigh. Buffy scooted over and laid her head on his chest. She couldn't sleep unless she was comfortably curled up in Angel's arms. She was still mad that Angel would even think to exorcise Spike without asking him.  
  
"Well, look at you two." Spike said from the shadows.  
  
"Aw, no. No. No, no!" Angel said.  
  
"Sitting in luxury's ample lap. Top of the world. Looking down on.. well, everyone. It's good to be king and queen, isn't it?"  
  
"Ground rules. Haunt us all you want during business hours, but this space.. off limits."  
  
"Relax, beefcake. I didn't come for a fight."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Not that I could, right? Can't touch, can't affect anything.. Yeah, I overheard your little group powwow about me."  
  
"How much?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Enough of enough."  
  
"Look, Spike.." Angel said, looking at Buffy.  
  
"Necromancer tried to make a deal with me."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Said he could bring me back, body and soul, if I used our close personal relationship to double-cross you."  
  
"Tempting. So what'd you say?"  
  
"You see, right there, that's the problem. You having to ask me that. I don't play for that side anymore, or haven't you heard? Besides.. even if Mr. Death could do what he promised, I trust him about as much as you trust me."  
  
"What do you want from us?"  
  
"I can't live like this. Being useless. Being nothing. I want it to end."  
  
Buffy looked at Angel. He nodded at her, understanding that she had been right. They quietly got dressed and headed out to the nearest cemetery. Spike looked around and then at Angel. "Suppose this'll do. Feels hallowed enough."  
  
Buffy looked at the amulet in her hands. "Are you sure you want to do this, Spike?"  
  
"What, think I could really stand hanging out with your honey and his lot, now and forever? Wisecracking ghost sidekick. No bloody thanks." Buffy stared at Spike, slightly hurt. "Sorry luv. It's not that I don't care for you. I do. But I don't want this existence. Come on. You know as well as I do, it's for the best." Angel picked up an urn from a nearby grave and handed it to Buffy. "I'm glad it's you, though. Finally doin' me in. Feels right. You bein' my first Slayer and all."  
  
"If I could playfully punch you right now, I would." Spike smiled. "Good- bye, Spike."  
  
"No good byes from you?" Spike asked Angel.  
  
"Bye Spike." Angel said.  
  
"See you around, Angel." Buffy picked up the urn and aimed for crushing the amulet. Suddenly, Angel had the other urn and he slammed it over Buffy's head. She turned just in time to get struck again and knocked out. Then Angel turned the urn on himself. "Uh, I think you missed." Angel hit himself in the face again, and then was picked up off the ground unable to move.  
  
Hainsley stepped out of the shadows. "And the dead shall rise! Just 'cause I say so."  
  
"Hainsely.." Angel groaned, looking down at Buffy.  
  
"Vampire should think twice before messing with a man who wields power over all things lifeless." He dropped Angel to the ground, knocking him out. "If you ask my advice."  
  
"Took your sweet time stepping in, Hainsley. I came this close to getting a one-way to the great beyond."  
  
"Relax, son. I wasn't going to let anything happen to you. You're the linchpin of my plan."  
  
"Our plan. And you bloody better hold up your end of it. I'm not gonna be used by you."  
  
"Yes, you are. But afterwards, I'll give you your reward, just as you asked. I'll put you back in the driver's seat of your afterlife. Control. That's all anyone really wants, isn't it?"  
  
When Buffy woke up, she was tied to a chair with thick chains. She looked around and saw Angel lying on the same table that the girl was on before Hainsley put the demon inside her. Apparently Angel had woken up too.  
  
"Hello, vampire. Have a nice nap?" Hainsley asked. Angel tried to sit up, but Hainsley used his power to push him back down. "Naw, don't get up. You've had a rough day. You know, so have I, thanks to you."  
  
"Yours is about to get a hell of a lot worse." Angel said. "Where's Buffy?"  
  
"She's fine." Hainsley looked at Buffy. "Oh, and she's awake. Too bad. I'll just have to have you vamp her."  
  
"I'll kill you before I'll let you do that."  
  
"I don't think so. Me necromancer. You.. dead. You can't lay a finger on me."  
  
"Maybe not. But what do you think the senior partners are gonna do to you when Buffy and I turn up missing?"  
  
"Oh, you're not going to be missing. You're going to show up to work bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow morning, when you'll reverse the seizure of my personal assets and reinstate the Internment Acquisitions Department."  
  
"And why would we do that?"  
  
"Not you. Me. Wearing your body." Spike said.  
  
"And to think I didn't trust you."  
  
"Come on, Angel. What choice did I have? Bloody exorcism? Letting you and yours banish me to oblivion? No, thanks. Necro here's gonna give me my body back.. after I take yours for a test drive, fix his little problems. And here's the kicker: I go in, and you go.. pfft! Off to never- never-come-back land. And then.. yours very truly will be running the show. Your cars, your fancy digs, everything.. Everyone.." Spike glanced at Buffy. "I deserve.. will be mine. And you know I'll have a go with your Slayer. She's a goer and you know it as well as I do."  
  
"Shut.."  
  
"Spike." Buffy said, lifting her head.  
  
"Yes pet?" Spike asked, turning.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?"  
  
"Um.. Trading my life for a much better one?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Don't you see me? I'm a bloody ghost! That's not what I wanted."  
  
"But you want to hurt to me?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You want to take my husband from me? I thought you cared about me."  
  
"I do."  
  
"Then why would you hurt me like this?"  
  
"Come on Slayer."  
  
"No. Spike, if you have ever loved me.. If you have ever cared about me in your entire un-life, you won't do this. Please Spike. Don't take Angel away from me!"  
  
Spike looked conflicted. Before any of them could blink, Hainsley started some eerie chanting and then plunged his hand inside Angel's stomach. Angel let out a scream and Buffy started to struggle with her bonds. Hainsley reached back toward Spike and absorbed Spike's energy into his own body. Spike disappeared and Hainsley's hand glowed orange. The orange glow flowed through Hainsley's body toward Angel, but stopped short. Buffy's eyes widened as Hainsley stared at his arm.  
  
"Unh! What? What.. are you doing?"  
  
The orange glow went back up Hainsley's arm and disappeared into his chest. "Spike.. would you mind?" Angel asked.  
  
Spike/Hainsley pulled his hand out of Angel's body. "No! Noooo!"  
  
Angel ran over to Buffy and helped her get out of the chains. Her forehead had dried blood on it from where Angel had hit her over the head with the urn. "I'm fine." She said. Angel and Buffy faced off with Hainsley, kicking him across the room. "I can touch you now, Hainsley."  
  
Hainsley controlled Angel's body again, throwing him across the room. "Think you're clever, eh? But... unnnnh! Your ghost can't control me for long. I hold the power. I rule the dead." He reached toward Angel, but couldn't control him anymore.  
  
"Not today." Buffy said. She threw a hard punch and sent Hainsley flying into a nearby table, knocking him down to the ground. Hainsley got up again and engaged Angel in hand-to-hand combat again. "Honey, duck." Buffy threw a blade at Hainsley, cutting his head off. Hainsley's head fell to the ground, and Spike's head floated above Hainsley's neck.  
  
"Oh, bollocks." Spike said as Hainsley's body fell to the ground. "I was just getting warmed up."  
  
"That was you hitting me?" Angel asked.  
  
"The last bit, yeah. Hainsley's been dead since he hit the table. Oh, come on. Had to get a few licks in, didn't I?"  
  
"Spike!" Buffy groaned. Angel held his stomach and Buffy walked over to him and held him up. "You ok?"  
  
"I'll be fine." Angel said. "You might have a concussion though."  
  
"Nah. It was only a concrete urn to the head."  
  
"Only." Angel said with a smirk.  
  
"And you two are all right?" Wesley asked as he, Buffy, and Angel walked through the lobby and towards Buffy and Angel's office.  
  
"We'll be fine." Angel said.  
  
"And Spike? Buffy got to him and saved the day in the nick of time?"  
  
"Yup. That's my girl."  
  
"I knew he couldn't say that he didn't care about me." Buffy said. "He's sorta like Angel in that way."  
  
"Is not."  
  
"Oh, he is too. If I told you to say you didn't love me right now, could you?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Spike couldn't either." She sat down in the chair. "Besides, he's been nice to me the whole time." The phone rang and Buffy picked it up. "Yeah?"  
  
"Buffy, Faith's on line one." Harmony said.  
  
"Oh." The Slayer looked at Angel. "Uh, patch her through."  
  
"K."  
  
"Hey B!" Faith said. "What's going on?"  
  
"Uh.. Not much. How're things?" Buffy asked.  
  
"They're great. These rookie Slayers are really looking up to me."  
  
"That's.. you know, that's really good."  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing." Buffy and Angel both said.  
  
"Angel? Are you on speaker?"  
  
"Yeah." Angel said, walking over. "Hey Faith."  
  
"What's going on with you two?"  
  
"Weird night."  
  
"Don't tell me about it. I've got kinky sex things going on too."  
  
"We didn't mean.." Buffy said. "Never mind. How's Giles?"  
  
"He's good."  
  
"And Willow?"  
  
"Is right here waiting to say hey."  
  
"Ok."  
  
"Hey Buffy! Hi Angel!" Willow said.  
  
"Hey Wills."  
  
"Hey Willow." Angel said.  
  
"Golly I miss you guys."  
  
"We miss you too." Buffy said.  
  
"Buffy was telling me the other day that she felt guilty for not going with you all."  
  
"Ah, Buff.. Don't. You've got a family to take care of. We can't move Dawn around like that. It's good you're settled down."  
  
"Not something I'm really used to." Buffy said. "But you should see the penthouse!"  
  
"I can't wait."  
  
"When are you coming in?" Angel asked.  
  
"Soon hopefully. We're really busy."  
  
"That's good, right?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Yeah! More protection for the world."  
  
"You guys should start a school."  
  
"And base it in LA that way we'd never be so far apart. I miss you so much Buffy. There's no one here that I can share stuff with."  
  
"Hey!" Faith protested in the background.  
  
"She's my best friend. Sorry Faith."  
  
"It's ok. I was only playing."  
  
"I miss you way more Will! I need my best here." Buffy said.  
  
"Wes could use some help in his mystical department." Angel said. "You're the best source of mystical I know."  
  
Wesley walked out of the office to let Buffy and Angel catch up with their friends in private. He watched through the window as the two laughed at something Willow must have said. 


	6. Unleashed p1

Chapter 6  
  
Several muscle cars were parked in a row alongside a small park bench where Buffy, Angel, Dawn, Gunn, Lorne, Wesley, and Fred were gathered. Dawn look completely bouncy tonight and Buffy smiled slightly.  
  
"Hey, uh, who wants some mu shu? I got beaucoup mu shu here." Lorne said.  
  
"I'll take some, thanks." Fred said.  
  
"Angel, this little picnic was such a good idea." Buffy said.  
  
"Yeah, man. Why haven't we done this before?" Gunn asked.  
  
Fred scanned Wesley while Lorne operated the machine out of a silver briefcase. Angel shrugged and took Buffy's hand. "Well, you know, you've all been working so hard.."  
  
"Has anyone seen the plum sauce?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Ew!" Dawn said. "Why would you want that?"  
  
Fred stopped scanning Wesley and put the scanner back in the briefcase on the picnic table. "We're clean. Nobody's listening."  
  
"You were late." Angel said to Wesley.  
  
"Thought I was being followed." Wesley said.  
  
"I get that we have to be careful, but feels weird hiding from the company we're supposed to be running." Gunn said.  
  
"We're not hiding, we're being safe." Buffy said. "There are factions at Wolfram & Hart, people who want to see us destroyed."  
  
"But still, it's not like everyone there's evil. I mean, we work with these people. Some of em I see more than I see you guys, at least lately, anyway." Fred said.  
  
"And you think you can trust him?" Wesley asked. Fred gave him a look. "Them."  
  
"What?"  
  
"These.. people, the ones you're spending so much time with lately. Knox, for example."  
  
"Uh, we're, you know, heh heh, friendly, but he's under me.. or I'm on top of him. Professionally. All I'm saying is, he.. he's not evil."  
  
"I think we're all agreed that the senior partners are." Angel said. "They put us in charge for a reason. What we need to know is.. why?"  
  
"You've only been there a couple of months." Dawn said.  
  
"Turns out running a company doesn't leave a lot of time for, you know, covert ops." Buffy said.  
  
"Yeah, I'm up to my horns in schmoozin' starlets and boozin' hipsters, Angel." Lorne said.  
  
"What about Gunn?" Wesley asked.  
  
"What about Gunn?" Gunn asked.  
  
"It's.. well, what they put in your head. All that law knowledge and whatever. Maybe you know something, more than the rest of us." Dawn said.  
  
"The alteration to your mental capacity.." Wesley added.  
  
"My capacity's the same as it's always been." Gunn retorted. "The good doctor just revved up some idlin' brain cells, set em in motion."  
  
"It's a legitimate concern. You gave them access to.." Angel started.  
  
"I made a deal. We all did. Seems like I'm the only one who's willing to accept that. Everybody here got something out of this."  
  
"Fear, mistrust.."  
  
"A great motor pool." Dawn added with a chipper smile. Buffy smiled at her little sister who had just gotten her license. It was hell on Buffy and Angel, but Dawn was overly excited.  
  
"I got the Nancy Sinatra collection. Original 45s." Lorne said.  
  
"I did get a rather nice pen." Wesley said, taking the pen out of his pocket. "Sterling. Has my name on it. Which is not the point at all."  
  
"No, the point is what, that I'm some spy for the senior partners?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Nobody's saying that." Buffy said.  
  
"Just thinking it."  
  
"No, Charles.." Fred said.  
  
"The point is, the senior partners have a plan for us, and if we're not prepared.." Angel said.  
  
"Angel, it's not like we don't want to be ready. We just have, you know, plates.. big, heaping, full plates."  
  
"Between running our departments, handling clients, dealing with Spike.." Wesley said.  
  
"Spike is a distraction. As soon as he's released from his ties from Wolfram & Hart.." Angel said.  
  
"That could take years."  
  
"Using the amulet to destroy the hellmouth, it turned Spike into.." Fred said.  
  
"A spook?" Lorne asked.  
  
"Well, he's more than a ghost. He's something unique." Buffy said. They all looked at her. "We've been hanging out a lot when he's not all disappear-y."  
  
"Regardless, whatever binds him.." Wesley said.  
  
Angel's ears perked up and then Buffy sensed it too. Angel held out his hand to Wesley. "Can I borrow your pen?"  
  
"Uhh, sure." Wesley handed Angel the pen and Buffy and Angel took off.  
  
Nearby, a woman screamed as a growling hairy monster followed her, knocking her down to the ground. The monster attacked the girl, slashing her shoulder then biting her neck. Angel pulled the monster off of the girl and began fighting with it himself. "Angel no! That could be Oz!" Buffy screamed as she caught up. Before he could stop the downward plunge, Angel jammed Wesley's silver pen through its chest. The creature fell back to the ground and immediately turned back into the shape of a man. It wasn't Oz. The girl ran away during all the commotion, and the next sound was that of car tires screeching as she drove away.  
  
"Damn it." Angel said.  
  
"Angel, you need to think before you just go killing random werewolves." Buffy scolded. "What if that had been Oz?"`  
  
"Well, sweetheart, I was kind of thinking more along the lines of saving the screaming girl."  
  
"I know, but.. Next time let's use a bit more thinking."  
  
"I promise."  
  
Angel, and Gunn were talking as they walked through the lobby of Wolfram & Hart. Angel held a sketch of the girl from the park. "She was bitten. I smelled her blood on him."  
  
"Tonight's the second night of the full moon, which means 2 more nights for her to go all dog-girl." Gunn said.  
  
"12 hours till moonrise, and then.. If she hurts anyone.."  
  
"She won't. We'll find her."  
  
"We better. She won't even know what's happening to her."  
  
Gunn pushed the elevator button. "Well, she'll figure it out soon enough. McManus did. The guy you.. killed. I pulled his credit card records, cross-checked 'em with police reports. He left his wife and kids a couple years ago, kept moving, staying in the middle of nowhere most of the time. First year or so, a few mangled bodies showed up here and there, but the last 6 months, guy was leaving corpses like bread crumbs." They all stepped into the elevator.  
  
"Probably tried to control it for a while and just gave up." Angel said. "Thought he had to fight it alone, ended up with nothing worth fighting for. But this girl, she's not alone. She's got us."  
  
"Yeah. She's got the two best warriors protecting her."  
  
Angel smiled and got off the elevator on his floor. "I'll catch up with you in Fred's lab."  
  
"Later." Gunn headed off.  
  
Angel walked up to the door of his and Buffy's office and opened the door. Music was playing from speakers around the room and Buffy was standing in front a window dancing slightly and reading a file. Angel chuckled and closed the door. "Is this a private dance, or can anyone join?"  
  
Buffy turned, her face flushing slightly. "How long have you been standing there?"  
  
"Don't worry. I'm the only one that was here." She smiled. "So, what're you reading?"  
  
"Oh, we got a new set of sais in today. They're mystical. I'm doing my homework."  
  
"Good girl."  
  
"I was also thinking of letting Dawn work with Fred." Angel stared at her. "I know, evil law firm and all, but I can't just keep leaving her home alone all the time. She's old enough to have a job and Fred likes having her around in the lab. They make a good team."  
  
"Shouldn't you talk this over with Fred?"  
  
"She's the one that asked if Dawn would like to help her out after school."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
"Whatever you want to do." Angel smiled tightly, a little nervous to let his sister-in-law work at the evil law firm.  
  
"We're useless. Is that what you're trying to tell me? All this resources.." Angel said.  
  
"We're doing everything we can." Wesley said.  
  
"2 years of history on a dead guy and we can't get one lead on a living, breathing girl."  
  
"Fingerprints.. have his, don't have hers." Fred said.  
  
"There must be something at the attack scene." Buffy said.  
  
"So far, not even an earring." Wes said.  
  
"Bloody shame, letting the girl run off like that. Somebody's slipping." Spike said, appearing on the stairs.  
  
Angel handed the sketch over to a lab worker. "I want people on the street with this in 15 minutes. You find anybody who's seen her, you let me know." He turned to Fred. "Tire prints?"  
  
"I'm working on it. It takes time, Angel." Fred said.  
  
"Psychics are working on traces of the girl's blood. They picked up images, imprints." Wesley said, handing Angel a sketch.  
  
"Must be her bedroom. Can they make it clearer? Maybe they could.." Angel said.  
  
"It's not like a photograph."  
  
Angel turned toward a doctor inspecting the man Angel killed in the park. The man Angel killed had a fuzzy graying beard and was rather hairy for a man. "Pretty rare breed you've got here." The doctor said.  
  
"Dr. Royce is the cryptozoologist on my staff. I brought him in to tell us what we'll be dealing with when we find the girl." Wesley said.  
  
"Lycanthropus exterus. Undocumented in North America.. until now, obviously."  
  
"How is it different from your everyday Joe werewolf?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Oh, biped, for one thing. Walks upright. Canines are a bit longer than normal. Arm span is.."  
  
"I don't care about that. All I care about is the girl." Angel said.  
  
"That's rough. Cause here on out, she's in the kill-or-be-killed club." Spike said.  
  
"Here on out, she's under mine and Buffy's protection."  
  
"If you find her before she turns. Catch her after she goes all growly, won't be easy taking her out. I had a wee spat with a werewolf myself once. Fought for over an hour. Brutal, vicious." Spike held up his hand and wiggled his fingers. "Almost lost my.."  
  
"Angel killed him with a pen." Buffy said.  
  
"Hmph."  
  
"Spike, you're not helping."  
  
"I know." She gave him a look. "Where'd you want me to go? I'm kinda stuck here."  
  
"I know that. Just, try to not talk too much. This is serious." Spike gave her a look. "Don't give me puppy face." Spike smiled. "Just.. If you have a smart ass comment, hold it in till later and then just tell me."  
  
An hour later, Fred was looking at a photo of tire prints on her computer as Lorne looked over her shoulder. "Those fine lines? Bad for the car, good for us. Apparently, they mean old tires, at least 5 years."  
  
"Nice sketch. Somebody saw your girl last night.. East Hollywood." Gunn said.  
  
"All right. We're looking for a mid-size sedan, at least 5 years old, somewhere in the Hollywood area." Angel said.  
  
"Tick-tock, tick-tock. The moon's a-risin', ladies and gents." Spike said to Buffy. She glared.  
  
"I'm in the DMV database, but there are thousands of possible matches." Wesley said.  
  
"Color me clever." Lorne said. "Sister gets slammed around by a werewolf, she's putting pedal to metal. I mean, red light, green light, same diff."  
  
"Traffic cameras." Buffy said. "Are we networked?"  
  
"Yep." Wes said.  
  
"I'm looking at the cameras." Gunn said. "You get set to run with it if I find a match. Course I might leak the info to the senior partners, 'cause we're tight."  
  
"Just do it." Buffy said.  
  
"Is the van ready?" Angel asked.  
  
"Yep. I triple checked." Fred said.  
  
"Good, cause we got less than an hour."  
  
"A lot of fuss over one girl. Other things to do around here.. important things." Spike said.  
  
"You know that whoosh thing that you do when you're suddenly not there anymore? I love that."  
  
"Angel." Buffy warned.  
  
"I don't have time to coddle the smart ass ghost Buffy. We've got less than an hour to find this girl."  
  
"Fine, but don't expect anything outta me tonight after that smart remark."  
  
Spike chuckled and Angel was starting to retort when Gunn walked in. "10:19 last night, 1992 Honda Civic ran a red light at Western and Franklin. Blond woman." He handed a printout to Angel.  
  
"That's her." Angel said.  
  
"License number: 2ABM-543."  
  
Wesley typed it in. "Address: 2315 Harvard. Name: Nina Ash."  
  
"All right. Buffy and I'll go." Angel said. "Buffy, get a tranq gun from your arsenal. You're in charge of knocking her out if we don't get there in time."  
  
Buffy rolled her eyes and headed off to her weapons room. Just as she opened the door, a wave of dizziness came over her and she grabbed the inspection counter to hold her up. Spike was behind her. "You ok luv?"  
  
Buffy pushed herself upright, but still held tightly to the counter. "Um.. Yeah. I guess I'm just moving too quickly and I'm a little frustrated with Angel."  
  
"You sure? You look a little pale."  
  
"This coming from the ghost."  
  
"In all seriousness Buffy, are you gonna be ok?" Buffy looked at Spike, her eyes showing him that she didn't know. 


	7. Unleashed p2

Chapter 7  
  
The next morning, Angel slipped quietly out of bed and made sure Dawn was up and getting ready for school. Buffy was sound asleep. She'd slept right through the alarm. Angel decided she must be tired, so he let her sleep. He went to the office and down to where Nina was being held. He unlocked the door and walked in.  
  
"What.. who are you?" Nina asked.  
  
"It's ok. My name's Angel. You're safe now."  
  
"Safe? Oh. Well.. great. That's.." She made a run for it, but Angel grabbed her. "Get off me! Let go of me! Help me, somebody!"  
  
"What I'm trying to do, Nina, is help you."  
  
"Said the psycho rapist. How do you know my name? What do you want with me?"  
  
"I just want you to see something." After a minute, he led her up to the office and opened a laptop. She watched the screen where a video of a werewolf pacing inside a cage played.  
  
"I don't.. What am I supposed to be looking.. God, what is that?" Nina asked.  
  
"You don't remember?"  
  
"Remember?"  
  
"2 nights ago.. You were attacked.. in the woods. You were jogging."  
  
"Jogging. Wait. Yeah. I remember that I.. that thing attacked me."  
  
"Not exactly. My wife and I were in the area, we heard screams, but by the time we got there.."  
  
"That was you. Yeah, I remember you.. And your wife. You guys saved me."  
  
"We were too late." On the video, the werewolf collapsed on the floor of the cage and transformed back into human form. Into Nina's form.  
  
"Oh my God."  
  
"It was a werewolf, Nina, and you were bitten."  
  
"No. This is.. insane."  
  
"The bite already started a process. You may have already started to feel the effects: Distorted vision, heightened senses."  
  
"Blood. Jill, my sister, she was cooking meat. Oh my God. I.. I smelled the blood. It was making me.. Oh, God, Amanda, my niece."  
  
"She's ok, and so's your sister."  
  
"No, you don't get it."  
  
"Nina, it's ok."  
  
"No, it's not!"  
  
"You didn't.."  
  
"I wanted to rip her throat out!"  
  
"It wasn't you. It was that thing inside."  
  
"Oh, like there's a difference?"  
  
"There is, a big one. I know this is a lot to take.."  
  
"Don't tell me what you know. You didn't wake up and find out you're a.. monster. You don't know anything."  
  
"I'm not a werewolf like you, but I.. I know what it's like. I'm a monster, too."  
  
"So.. what? You're like a Frankenstein?"  
  
"What? No!" Angel rubbed his forehead. "I'm.. I'm a vampire."  
  
"Vampire?" Nina sighed. "And you're.. wife. Is she a.."  
  
"Vampire Slayer."  
  
Nina snorted. "Well, isn't that ironic?"  
  
"You have no idea." Nina stared at him. "We're different. I have a soul. I'm.. I'm not evil, and neither are you."  
  
"But vampires kill people, and they.."  
  
"Can control themselves if they want to. I do it every day, and so can you. I'll help. Buffy and I both will."  
  
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer?" Nina let out a light laugh. "Can you.. cure me?"  
  
"No. But we can keep you safe."  
  
Later that day, Fred took Nina back to her house to get some of her things to help calm her down. Buffy still hadn't come in yet and Angel had sent Lorne to check on her. Gunn sat behind his desk holding a paper while Angel signed it. Angel sat down in the chair beside Gunn's desk and stared off into the distance.  
  
"You sign this, we're all set to turn McManus' body over to his family. They've made arrangements to transport his body back to.. the North Pole. Turns out he had a close personal relationship with Santa. Angel?"  
  
"What? Uh, I'm with you. Turning over the.. Santa?"  
  
"Angel, you saved that girl's life. If you hadn't gotten there when you did.."  
  
"The werewolf would've killed her. I know. Doesn't change what she's gonna have to go through."  
  
"Well, that part sucks, no doubt, but.. you did everything you could."  
  
"You know what, Gunn? Don't need a pep talk right now. Just do your job."  
  
"Right. I'll just go do that.. someplace else." As Gunn started to leave, Buffy breezed in with Lorne trailing her.  
  
"Whoa! Watch it there! Just passing by and got splashed with a heap of grouchy." Lorne said to Gunn.  
  
"Why didn't you wake me up?!" The Slayer asked her husband. "It's past noon!"  
  
"You were asleep. I didn't.."  
  
"What've I missed? Where's Nina?"  
  
Angel looked at Lorne and the empath shook his head at Angel and held up his hands. He looked back at Buffy. "She's with Fred going to get some things of hers."  
  
"Got to tell you, Angelkins, that extra weight is not looking so good on you." Lorne said. Angel looked down at his belly. "I'm talking about psychic pounds, pumpkin. Why don't you consider me the Jenny Craig for the soul, huh? So let's hear it."  
  
"I'm not gonna sing."  
  
"Couldn't bear it if you did. No, it's talking you need.. or maybe a shoulder to.."  
  
"I'm not gonna cry either."  
  
"I was going to a leaning place. Ok, Atlas, how about a shrug? Look, so you got the weight of the world. It's a burden, sure, but breaking news it ain't."  
  
"Listen, Lorne, this isn't a good time."  
  
"No.. No, it never is. Spike showing up your first day in the Wolfram & Hart saddle after your month long honeymoon took the jolly right out of the ranchers. We've been feeling it ever since, Angelcakes."  
  
"Ok, so it's no secret. I don't like the guy."  
  
"Like him, don't like him.. that's up to you. You're fighting so many enemies around you, Angel, your punches are getting sloppy, and we've got the bruises to prove it. We're operating in unfriendly territory, champ. I don't want you to forget about the people covering your back." Lorne looked at Buffy. "And you're so jumbled right now, I can barely get a reading on you at all."  
  
"Me!? What'd I do?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I'm not clear on that. I'll have to get back to you."  
  
Angel stared at Buffy as Lorne left. She glanced at him, huffed, and walked out.  
  
Fred had come back Nina-less. Some masked ninja wannabes had jumped them and kidnapped her. Lorne was listening to Dr. Royce sing in the conference room. He made a thumbs up sign to Wesley. The ex-Watcher walked back into the office where the others were waiting. "Lorne's read the entire security team already, and the lab staff, as well as half of my department."  
  
"If the kidnappers have someone inside Wolfram & Hart, Lorne'll know." Dawn said.  
  
"What if she was detected somehow before we found her?"  
  
"Yeah, but by who?" Gunn asked.  
  
"The scariest thing was how organized they were, almost military." Fred said.  
  
"An underground monster-hunting military organization?" Buffy asked with a fake chippery tone. "It's happened before."  
  
"It's all my fault. I'm stupid."  
  
"Anything happens to Nina, it's on me." Angel said.  
  
"That's weird. Why don't I just approach the mysteriously ajar door?"  
  
"Stop with the mocking. Get enough of that from blondie bear." Gunn said.  
  
"Spike. Has anyone seen him since.."  
  
"Since he went poof? No." Angel said.  
  
"Uh, but it's been hours. Angel.."  
  
Royce knocked on the door and walked in. Angel turned to look at him. "What do you got?"  
  
"Usual suspects. There's the sacrificers, wackos who want to rid the world of abominations, and werewolf packs looking for new recruits. Then there's the paranormal sporting groups." Royce said.  
  
"I'll be.." Fred ran out of the office.  
  
"Vampire hunting in Eastern Europe. That kind of thing."  
  
"Is anyone else hot?" Buffy asked suddenly. They all turned to look at her. "No, seriously. Is anyone else hot?"  
  
"No." Gunn said. "You look a little pale. You ok?"  
  
"I wish everyone would stop saying that I look pale and then asking if I'm ok. I'm fine. I'm just hot is all."  
  
"Buffy.. You were puking this morning. I think you need to see a doctor." Dawn said. She saw Angel's shocked and worried expression. "Whoops. Wasn't supposed to say that out loud."  
  
"You were sick this morning?" Angel asked.  
  
"Only a little. But it could have been that Chinese food we had the other night. It tasted funky."  
  
"Buffy.."  
  
"I'm good. I'll be over it in a day or so. Let's just get back to.."  
  
"Guys." Fred said, running in. She held up a vial of liquid. "We have a problem."  
  
"Where is she?" Angel asked, slamming Royce against the wall of the office. He had used Calendula to fool Lorne's reading.  
  
"I don't know what you're.." Royce started.  
  
"Wrong answer!" Angel threw Royce against his desk.  
  
"But it's a secret! If I tell you, this man, he's not like you. You're a good guy, but he's a.. well, no offense, but he's scarier than both of you put together."  
  
Angel vamped and leaned in towards Royce. "Wanna bet?" In a long stream of words, Royce let everything he knew out in one breath. Angel knocked him out and then turned to Buffy sitting on the couch. She held her head in her hands and massaged her temples. "Baby?"  
  
"I'm fine. I've just got a headache." Buffy waved one of her hands. "Let's just get there and save her, huh?"  
  
Buffy and Angel walked out of their office. Fred, Wesley, and Gunn walked up to them holding paper they had found in Royce's office. "We know where she is."  
  
"Guys, we found.." Fred handed the paper to Angel. "It's what they plan to do to her."  
  
"It's a menu!" Buffy said.  
  
"Gunn, grab Royce. We'll need him for this." Angel said.  
  
They hurried off to the werewolf eating party in the SUV. Wesley held a gun on Royce as Angel drove like a mad man through LA and into Beverly Hills. They piled out and knocked on the door. A waiter answered it. He opened the small window, and Dr. Royce's face looked back at him. He opened the doors. Gunn knocked out the waiter, and he, Buffy, Angel, Wesley, and Dr. Royce walked into the house.  
  
"I'm all up in the law now, but damn it feels good to get my violence on." Gunn said.  
  
"Crane's not gonna like this." Royce said.  
  
"If I were you, I'd just be hoping the girl's alive." Angel said.  
  
"She has to be, at least through dinner. Once a werewolf dies, it reverts to its human state."  
  
"You mean, to eat werewolf, they got to eat her alive?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Evan, you've brought guests." Crane said to Royce.  
  
"We're just here to pick up a friend." Angel said. Gunn pointed a shotgun at Crane. Buffy knocked out the chef with a silver platter. Angel walked up to Nina, who was lying on a cart, gagged. "Jesus, they garnished you?"  
  
"No, get away! Just let them choke on me." Nina said.  
  
"Listen to me. Tomorrow you're gonna be home." Angel unshackled her.  
  
"This is what I am. I can't go back there, ever. This is better."  
  
"Oh please!" Buffy said, walking up. "There's nothing better about ending up in a doggy bag."  
  
"You must be the wife."  
  
"Hi, nice to meet you. We're getting out of here."  
  
"What, no leprechaun soufflé?" Gunn asked Crane.  
  
"There's no such thing as leprechauns." Crane said.  
  
"I knew I was right!" Buffy said triumphantly. Angel stared at her and she shrugged. Other men with guns snuck up on Wesley and Gunn, pointing cocked weapons at them. "We've hit a snag." Wes said.  
  
"We're not leaving without the girl." Angel said.  
  
"I'm willing to let my men die. Can you say the same?" Crane asked.  
  
"I go, you're going with me." Gunn said.  
  
"It's a risk. What can I say?"  
  
"Probably should've told me to drop this." Angel threw an urn in the air, then sucker punched Crane. Someone shot Angel, knocking him back. Nina turned into a werewolf and growled as she lunged at the guests. She bit a man on the neck, ripping his throat out. Gunn pointed his shotgun at Nina, but hesitated. Nina knocked him to the ground, but before she could attack him, Buffy shot her with a tranquilizer dart. Nina fell to the ground. Gunn let out a sigh of relief. "This is the part where we take our friend and go."  
  
"I'm afraid not. Tonight may not be salvageable, but my guests have paid a high price.. Some higher than others. And I promised them a werewolf."  
  
Nina rolled over suddenly and bit Dr. Royce's leg. He screamed in pain. Buffy smiled cheerily. "And a month from now, you'll have one."  
  
"No. No. Mr. Crane, please. Oh, no! No, please don't do this to me, Mr. Crane! I'm sorry!" Royce cried as Crane's cronies dragged him out of the room. "Mr. Crane, I'm sorry! No! Ohh! Mr. Crane, I'm begging you! No! Mr. Crane! Please! No!"  
  
The next morning, Buffy sat in the passenger's seat of her and Angel's silver Camaro. Nina sat in the back and sighed as they pulled up to her house. Angel put the car in park and looked at her. "This is it."  
  
Nine watched her niece draw in chalk on the sidewalk. "She's a really good artist."  
  
"Oh. Our refrigerator's always available if she's looking to show."  
  
"How do you live with it? Knowing that you've.. killed people?"  
  
"Nina, they were going to eat you for dinner." Buffy said.  
  
"I just wanna wake up. You know?"  
  
"At some point you'll be at the grocery store or with Amanda, and the whole werewolf thing, it'll just be a part of who you are."  
  
"Next you're gonna tell me you actually like being a Vampire Slayer."  
  
"Well, being nearly indestructible is cool."  
  
"I can't tell them."  
  
"Maybe, maybe not." Angel said. "That part's not covered in the manual. They're waiting for you."  
  
"You don't ever think about letting go, disappearing somewhere?"  
  
"Heh. Look, if you separate yourself from the ones you love, the monster wins. Of course my monster tends to stay attached to the one I really love."  
  
"You make it sound simple."  
  
"Well, it's not."  
  
"See you guys next month." Nina got out of the car and walked up to her sister and niece, who gave her a hug. Buffy and Angel watched them together, then drove away.  
  
"Mm, talk about a room with a view." Lorne said, staring out the penthouse window.  
  
"Wow, is that the hotel?" Fred asked.  
  
"Where? No I think that's the Center for Scientology." Wesley said.  
  
"Oh, right. They look nothing alike at all."  
  
"I was starting to think we were never gonna see the inside of this place." Gunn said.  
  
"We're sorry." Buffy said. She and Angel were curled up together on their oversized and overstuffed couch. The Slayer leaned back on Angel's chest. One of his leg's was stretched out behind her while the other hung off the side, his foot resting lightly on the floor. "We probably should've had you guys over sooner, but we're still trying to get used to the place ourselves."  
  
Lorne noticed the bar. "Look at this. I'm home! Hey, cosmos all around?"  
  
"Sounds good." Fred said.  
  
"None for me. Buffy and Angel would kill me." Dawn said.  
  
"Quite luxurious." Wes said.  
  
"Yeah, it's not bad." Angel said.  
  
"Don't mean to talk shop, but Crane's Bistro of the Bizarre..?" Gunn said.  
  
"Out of business. Permanently."  
  
"What if I have a craving for Sasquatch Soup?" Wesley asked playfully.  
  
"Is that something you English eat with your beans on toast?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Mmm, you guys are making me hungry." Fred said. "Who wants Chinese?"  
  
"Long as nothing comes tar-tar, I'm in." Lorne said.  
  
"I'm out." Buffy said.  
  
"You still don't feel good?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Nah. I think I'll just munch on some crackers."  
  
Fred offered Wesley a menu, but he shook his head. "No, I'm too tired to make any decisions."  
  
"Just order the usual, Fred." Dawn said.  
  
"I'm buying." Angel said.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, hell just froze over." Buffy said, kissing Angel's neck lightly. He pulled her closer and laid his head on hers.  
  
"We moved, actually, to a law firm." Fred said to the phone. "Uh-huh. Different. No, nice. Ok, um.. one mu shu chicken, two beef and broccolis, one cashew shrimp.. umm maybe some lettuce wraps.." 


	8. Hell Bound p1

Chapter 8  
  
Buffy stared in the bathroom mirror that night. She hadn't felt good all day and she'd had to use a lot of foundation that morning to hide her pastiness. It was now late at night and most everyone at Wolfram ad Hart had gone home except for the nighttime regulars. Eve was in the office talking to Angel about Fred's funding or whatever. Buffy hadn't been that interested in all of it and she'd excused herself to the bathroom.  
  
There was something she was hiding from Angel and every look he gave her, she felt guilty. The loving looks he always gave her made her feel ten times guiltier than all the other looks of concern. The Slayer had an idea of what was wrong with her, but she didn't want to admit it to herself, let alone her husband. If she got her hopes up and her assumption turned out to be wrong.. It wouldn't only break her heart, it would shatter Angel's. She couldn't tell him her secret. She couldn't tell anyone.  
  
Taking out her purse, Buffy looked at the pregnancy test hiding in the little pocket inside. All the symptoms were there and she remembered what it had been like before with Connor. Jasmine had said that Connor wasn't the only child that Buffy and Angel were going to have. It could be possible that Buffy was once again pregnant with Angel's baby.  
  
"Buffy." Eve said behind her at the door. Buffy dropped her purse and wheeled around to look at Eve. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. Let me help." Eve made a move to help pick up Buffy's purse, but the Slayer scooped it up.  
  
"I got it."  
  
"Are you ok?"  
  
Buffy closed her eyes, took a breath, and shook her head. "I'm fine."  
  
"You're a little jumpy. Not normal for you."  
  
"I know. I'm just tired I guess."  
  
"Well, we don't really need you for this. You can go home."  
  
"I'm good. I run this company as much as Angel does. So, what'd you want?"  
  
"Angel sent me in here to check on you."  
  
"And now you have and you know I'm fine. So, we can go back to the office and talk to Fred."  
  
"Well, I gotta go get her. So, I'll see you in there."  
  
"Yeah. Good. Ok."  
  
"You sure you're ok?"  
  
"Never better." Buffy nodded and walked out, her purse clutched tightly in her hand. Putting on a light expression, she breezed into the office and tossed her purse on the couch.  
  
"Hey. Did Eve check on you?" Angel asked.  
  
"Yeah." Buffy said, coming over and sitting on the edge of the desk facing Angel.  
  
"You ok? You looked like you were going to throw up again."  
  
"I'm fine. I just had to use the bathroom." Angel gave her The Look. "Girl problems."  
  
He held up his hands. "Thanks for sharing."  
  
"You asked. Besides, we're married. You gotta be used to it by now."  
  
"In all of my 250 years, I haven't gotten used to it. Why would I get used to it now?"  
  
"Cause you live with two girls and miss out on sex for a whole week every month?"  
  
"Good point." Angel smiled up at her. She gave him a little smile as she tried not to let it show that she was ready to throw up again. He noticed though and touched her thigh. "Sweetie, maybe you should go to the doctor. You've been sick for almost two weeks and you can't use that bad Chinese excuse anymore. This could be serious. You're the Slayer. You don't get sick."  
  
"Maybe it was bad Chinese at first, but then Dawn got sick, remember? I could've caught whatever she had. She's just now starting to get over it."  
  
Angel looked at her warily, but before he could say anything, Eve and Fred walked in. Fred walked over and sat down in one of the large leather chairs in front of the desk, Eve walked over and stood in the corner of the office behind the desk, Angel sat down in the chair behind the desk, and Buffy leaned against the desk.  
  
"So, what's going on?" Fred asked.  
  
"Um, I know difficult it's been going from a small detective agency to.. running Wolfram & Hart. And we've all been adjusting, but.." Angel said.  
  
"It's ok. Wes just gave me the talk. And I'm going to have a good meal and at least 6 hours of sleep, so everybody can just stop worrying. I'm fine. Really."  
  
"Good. That's.. Actually, there's some concern about how much the Practical Science Department's been spending."  
  
"Oh. Um.. yeah, I guess I may have gone over my projections by a few.."  
  
"$800,000." Eve cut in. "That's how much you've exceeded your quarterly budget. And the quarter ain't over yet, sweetie."  
  
"Look, I.. I know it sounds like.. I mean, it is a lot of money, but I-I'm trying to do something that's never been done before. So, yeah, attempting to recorporealize Spike is gonna cost.."  
  
"Whoa! Trying to do what?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Make Spike corporeal again like you asked."  
  
"Uh, no, what I asked for was for you to try to find a way to get Spike out of Wolfram & Hart." Angel said. Buffy gave him a look and he looked back at Fred.  
  
"Angel.. We accepted the offer to take over the L.A. branch of an evil, multi-dimensional law firm because we thought we could make a difference. Use the resources of Wolfram & Hart to do something decent."  
  
"She's got a point." Buffy said.  
  
"And how does that have anything to do with Spike?" Angel asked.  
  
"He just saved the world. Vampire with a soul fighting for the good of humanity. Ring anything? He's just like you, a champion."  
  
"God, I really hate that word."  
  
"I'm with Fred on this. Think of what an asset he'd be fighting on our side.. Again."  
  
"Except he won't be. I know Spike better than anyone, and he only cares about himself."  
  
"And Buffy and Faith." Fred shot back.  
  
"Well, this is getting interesting." Eve said.  
  
"You're right. He does care about Buffy. And he does care about Faith. So, where do you think he's gonna run off to as soon as his fresh, new feet hit the ground?"  
  
"Is that what this is about? You're afraid he's gonna come back and try to get with your friend he hurt again?" Fred asked.  
  
"I just want you to be careful, Fred, because I know how charming Spike can be."  
  
"He is quite the dish, with those eyes.." Eve said.  
  
"And the hair and the cheeks and.. What do you think I am, stupid? I know he's been playing me with the looks and the smiles. I'm not some idiot schoolgirl with a crush." Fred said.  
  
"Then what is it?" Angel asked.  
  
"It's about doing what's right. Remember?"  
  
Angel looked at Buffy who had one eyebrow raised. He sighed. "Your department. Your call. Just don't be disappointed if it doesn't work. Some people can't be saved."  
  
"Spike can and will be." Fred turned on her heel and walked out the door.  
  
Angel sighed and knew what was coming next. "You're so.. Uhh!" Buffy shot. "Spike is a friend. How many times do I have to tell you that? You should be happy that Fred is looking for a way to bring him back! Why do you have to be so damn cynical towards Spike?"  
  
"Buffy.."  
  
"Angel." The Slayer mocked. "He saved the world! You were there. You saw him sacrifice himself to save not only us, but the world too!"  
  
"We've saved the world countless times."  
  
"Which is exactly my point. We got second and, some of us, third chances at life. Why shouldn't Spike get his?"  
  
"Because he's Spike!"  
  
"And you were Angelus! What's the difference? Spike's demon is a separate thing just like Angelus is separate from you."  
  
"Why are you always taking his side? He tried to rape Faith! He killed innocents WHILE he had a soul! He's always been about him and never about anybody else. It's always been what HE wants."  
  
"That was before me and the chip and Faith and before he got his soul."  
  
"What about the people he killed?"  
  
"He was under the First's influence! How can you use that against him?"  
  
"Guys.." Eve said.  
  
"What?" They both yelled, turning to look at her.  
  
"I just wanted to tell you that Dawn came in and then ran out. She looked upset."  
  
"Oh great." Buffy looked at Angel. "See what you did!"  
  
"What I did?"  
  
"If you hadn't been all Giles, I wouldn't have ever started in on you."  
  
"If I hadn't been 'all Giles?' What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Faith told me all about how Giles sent Spike with Robin so Robin could kill Spike. And I have to go after my sister and explain to her that it was just a fight and we're not turning into my mother and father." Buffy ran out after Dawn leaving Angel to just stand there staring after her.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Angel walked out of the elevator into his office where Spike was standing waiting for him. "So, what's on the 'genda? Rousting a nest of venomous retirement plans?" Spike asked.  
  
"Shop's closed, Spike. Come back and haunt me tomorrow." Angel said.  
  
"Air's too rarefied up here for my taste, anyhows. Down with the dregs is where I belong, isn't it?"  
  
"And yet he's still here."  
  
"Just thought you me and the wife could hang is all. Couple of vampires from the old days doing our.. hangy thing with the lady of our dreams present. Where is ducks anyway?"  
  
"You're starting to feel it, aren't you? How close you are now.. to hell?"  
  
"What if I am? Not like it's such a big, bleeding deal, is it? If a ponce like you could break out.."  
  
"I never escaped from hell. All I got was a short reprieve. Not even sure how I managed that."  
  
"Oh, put your martyr away, Mahatma. Fred told me all about your great, shining prophecy. Pile up all your good deeds and get the big brass ring handed to you like everything else."  
  
"Except for one small catch. The prophecy's a bunch of bull. They all are. Nothing's written in stone or fated to happen, Spike. You save the world, you end up running an evil law firm."  
  
"Or playin' Casper with one foot in the fryer."  
  
"You think any of it matters? The things we did? The lives we destroyed. That's all that's ever gonna count. So, yeah, surprise. You're going to hell. We both are." Angel sat on the couch.  
  
"Then why even bother? Try to do the right thing, make a difference.."  
  
"What else are we gonna do?"  
  
"So that's it, then. I really am going to burn."  
  
"Welcome to the club."  
  
"Least I got company, eh? You and me, together again. Hope and Crosby. Stills and Nash. Chico and the.."  
  
"Yeah, are we done?"  
  
"Never much for small talk, were you? Always too busy trying to perfect that brooding block-of-wood mystique. God, I love that."  
  
"Not as much as I loved your nonstop yammering."  
  
"The way you always had to be the big swingy, swaggerin' around, barkin' orders.."  
  
"Never listening.."  
  
"Always interrupting.."  
  
"And your hair. What color do they call that, radioactive?"  
  
"Never much cared for you, Liam, even when we were evil."  
  
"Cared for you less."  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Good." Angel sipped from his glass of blood. "There was one thing about you.."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, I never told anybody about this, but I-I liked your poems."  
  
"You like Barry Manilow." Spike sighed. "Where's Buffy? She's more fun to talk to."  
  
"I don't know where she is. Dawn's at home alone and Buffy's not in our office as you can tell."  
  
"Did you check her weapons office? She likes it in there."  
  
"She's not there either." Angel noticed Spike was distracted. "What?"  
  
"Don't you see it?"  
  
"See what?"  
  
"Nothing. Too much talk of fire and brimstone." Spike looked over Angel's shoulder and his eyes widened in shock.  
  
"What?"  
  
A while later, Spike was talking about ghosts being everywhere. Angel ordered Eve and Gunn to check the place. Buffy ran in, hearing Spike's ranting. "What's going on?"  
  
"He's ranting and raving that there are ghosts in here." Angel said.  
  
"Ghosts? Spike, what's going on?"  
  
"How come I'm the only.. LEAVE ME ALONE!" Spike yelled. Fred and Wesley ran in.  
  
"Buffy, will you calm him down?" Angel asked.  
  
"Spike.." Buffy started.  
  
"There here! You gotta believe me! They're here."  
  
"Right now?" Angel asked.  
  
"Yes. Right now. Right here. Piss off! I'm trying to have a conversation here! Shut up!"  
  
"Who's he talking to?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Ghosts." Angel said.  
  
"Where?" Fred asked.  
  
"Everywhere." Spike said. "The blighters are coming out of the woodwork! No, I am not talking to you! Go away!"  
  
"We just checked with security." Gunn said, walking in with Eve.  
  
"They do hourly sweeps with the mystics to secure against spectral intrusion." Eve said.  
  
"So how many are we dealing with?" Buffy asked.  
  
"None. Last sweep was 10 minutes ago. Spike's the only non-corporeal in the building." Gunn said.  
  
"Check again." Spike said.  
  
"Maybe we should go back to the lab.." Fred said.  
  
"No, I'm telling you, they're here. You have to check again. Something's happening.." Spike looked around frantically and then back at Fred. "Fred, please, you have to use that perfect brain of yours.." Then he disappeared.  
  
"Spike?" Buffy called.  
  
"Where'd he go?" Eve asked.  
  
"It's ok. He does this sometimes." Angel said.  
  
"We should spread out, see if we can find him. We just need to find him." Fred said. 


	9. Hell Bound p2

Chapter 9  
  
"Carry the quotient load across the remainder.. support the imbalance with Lumirea's fourth constant.." Fred murmured.  
  
Buffy sat on a counter watching Fred do her calculations. Usually she would have forgiven Angel for being so snippy at her, but she still wasn't feeling well and she was in a sullen mood. Spike still hadn't shown up and Fred seemed worried. "I knew it."  
  
"Knew what?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Damn, I'm good!"  
  
"You are?"  
  
"A frickin' genius! Just cancel out the radical.. which causes a feedback wave that liquefies half of Los Angeles."  
  
"You're still a genius though."  
  
"Who am I kidding? Oh! I'll never figure this out!"  
  
"Of course you will!" Buffy said. "You can't give up." Suddenly something touched Buffy's arm and sent a shock of electricity. The Slayer jumped and looked at Fred. "What the.."  
  
"Spike? Spike, if it's you, give us some sort of.." Fred looked around the room. She was startled when she saw Angel standing there. "Oh! Would everybody please stop doing that?"  
  
"Sorry. I just wanted to let you know.." Angel started.  
  
"Angel, something was in the lab." Buffy said, suddenly clinging to his arm. "It-it touched me. I think maybe it was.."  
  
"We did another sweep with the mystics. They didn't find anything."  
  
"Screw the mystics. I know what I felt. We have to find a way to contact him before he's really gone."  
  
"Buffy.."  
  
"Please Angel. Spike's my friend and I don't have many here. No offense to Lorne, Wesley, Gunn, and Fred, but my best friends are all in Europe. I usually don't have time to talk to anybody but Spike because he follows me around."  
  
Angel sighed. "All right. We'll call in our best psychic."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Wesley and Gunn sat at the conference table with Fred, Buffy, and Angel. "Perhaps we should reconsider this." Wesley said.  
  
"You think? Seen enough horror flicks to know these things always turn out ugly." Gunn stopped when Eve escorted a pretty blonde woman in a red dress into the room. "I stand corrected."  
  
"All right. Let's get to it." The blonde said. "Eve tells me that you've lost a ghostie."  
  
"Well, he's not actually a ghost technically. More of a.." Fred said.  
  
"Yeah, whatever." She sat at the head of the table. "Now, I have pilates at the crack of why-am-I-awake? So we're gonna move this right along. I will mutter a few calming words to get us into the zone, and then we'll see if we can scare up your missing spook. Ok. Clear your minds.. which, judging by the looks of you, won't be that hard."  
  
"Should we hold hands?"  
  
"Only if you're lonely. Now, zip it and let me do my sweet funky. I call upon the guardian of souls, the keeper of the passage. Let our breath flow from what is to what has passed. Bless us with the presence of the lost. Grant us communion with the world beyond our reach. Give voice to those who can no longer be heard. I beseech you, open your gates.. reveal your secrets." Her eyes opened with a start. "I sense a presence. Very close. So much pain.."  
  
"He's in pain?" Buffy asked.  
  
"The dark soul.. so much suffering. It's coming.. it's coming.. Oh, God. I can feel it. The dark soul.. it's here. It's.. it's the R.. It's the.." The woman grabbed her own throat, trying to pull at her necklace. "Aah!"  
  
"Whoa!" Gunn said.  
  
"What's happening?" Fred asked.  
  
"Spike, stop it." Angel said. "Let her go!"  
  
The woman sat up and gasped as if she was regaining her composure. She had a slight nosebleed. She exhaled. "Are you all right?" Fred asked. The psychic woman exploded in blood all over Fred, then collapsed.  
  
Angel grabbed Buffy and pulled her away before the blood could touch her. "Oh God!" Buffy said. "That couldn't have been Spike. He wouldn't.."  
  
"Shh. Come on." Angel wrapped his arm around Buffy's waist and led her into the office. Fred decided to go take a shower and Wesley and Gunn stayed behind to cover the body. They walked out of the conference room into Angel's office to talk.  
  
"Oh, what the hell was that?" Gunn asked. "I know they used to call Spike 'William the Bloody,' but why would he go all Scanners on her?"  
  
"He wouldn't." Buffy said.  
  
"She's right." Wesley said. "No advantage in it to kill someone trying to help him."  
  
"You saying it was an accident?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Whatever she contacted wasn't the 'dark soul' we were expecting." Buffy said.  
  
"So if she wasn't talking about Spike.."  
  
"Then there's something else here at Wolfram & Hart. Something else a lot worse."  
  
"Wes and I'll get to work." Gunn hauled Wesley out of the office.  
  
"Are you ok?" Angel asked Buffy.  
  
"It wasn't Spike. He wouldn't."  
  
"You don't.."  
  
"No. I do know that he wouldn't kill someone like that. Angel, he's been my best friend since he got back. I don't have many people to talk to."  
  
"That's not true. You have Dawn.. And what about Lorne and Wesley and Gunn.. Fred's a girl.. Fred can talk. You also have me."  
  
"I know, but everyone's so busy. Spike's the only one I can talk to."  
  
"Why? I'm sure anyone of them.."  
  
"He's the only other one that knows about Connor."  
  
"Eve knows.."  
  
"I'm not friends with her. I don't like her."  
  
"Ok. But how does Spike know?"  
  
"I told him. It was a night or two before he died. I was sitting out on the porch and he came out and we started talking. I just.. I spilled everything to him. He believed me."  
  
"Is that why you're so protective of him?"  
  
"I guess in a way.. Yeah. I trust him. I KNOW him. He wouldn't kill that woman in there. He didn't."  
  
"Ok. I believe you. Gunn and Wesley will find out what it is."  
  
"Got it. The dark soul." Gunn said, holding up a book from Wesley's desk.  
  
"What's it say?" Buffy asked.  
  
"A lot. There are over 3,200 different references. 4 of them are about you." Gunn said to Angel.  
  
"What? Give me that." Angel took the book possessively and stared at it.  
  
"This is getting us nowhere." Wesley said.  
  
"Let me see this. Well, that's not fair. I didn't even have a soul when I did that."  
  
"Angel, shut up." Buffy snapped. "There has to be a way to narrow down the search."  
  
Fred ran into the room, her hair still wet from her shower. "Reaper. Cross reference with the word 'reaper.'"  
  
"Where'd you pull that?" Gunn asked.  
  
"It came to me in the shower."  
  
"Here it is." Angel said. "Matthias Pavayne, dark soul number 182."  
  
"Pavayne.." Wesley stood and went to his computer.  
  
"Well, there's not much here. European aristocrat, 18th century. He was a doctor, nicknamed 'The Reaper' for performing unnecessary surgery on his patients."  
  
"I dread asking.. What kind of surgery?" Buffy asked.  
  
"The kind you don't recover from." Wesley said. "There's a file on him in internal archives, classified histories."  
  
"He worked for Wolfram & Hart?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Not exactly. 'Word spread of his unorthodox practices.. fled to California, still under Spanish rule at the time. His arrival coincided with a rash of brutal, ritualistic murders. Pieces of the victims placed in a manner suggesting an intimate knowledge of the dark arts.'"  
  
"Pieces?" Fred asked.  
  
"'The slaughter continued for the better part of 20 years. The perpetrator was never caught.' At least.. not by the authorities."  
  
"What, you're saying Wolfram & Hart took this guy out?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Why would they do that?" Fred asked.  
  
"Sounds like their idea of employee of the month." Gunn said.  
  
"Because they needed his blood. 'Representatives from Wolfram & Hart were looking to build a new branch in what would eventually become Los Angeles. Unfortunately a Spanish mission was already resting on the site their seers recommended.' They needed an appropriate sacrifice to deconsecrate the grounds."  
  
"So this place is built on the blood of a mass-murdering psychopath?" Fred asked.  
  
"It would appear so."  
  
"But if Pavayne's half as bad as he sounds, he should've been roasting his chestnuts in hell centuries ago." Gunn said.  
  
"You said something about the dark arts, right?" Angel asked. "Maybe he knew enough to figure out a way to stick around."  
  
"That might explain why the mystics can't get a bead on him, too." Buffy said.  
  
"What I still don't get are all the ghosts at Wolfram & Hart."  
  
"But there aren't any." Wesley said.  
  
"Except Spike." Buffy put in.  
  
"That's what I mean. High-risk employment. People die here all the time. This place should be full of spooks. So what happened to them?"  
  
"Maybe this Pavayne character's munching on them." Gunn said.  
  
"Whatever he's doing to them, we need to get Spike back.. before he's next." Buffy said.  
  
Wesley, Gunn, Buffy, and Angel walked into Fred's office. She was writing formulas on the windows. "That's never good." Wesley said.  
  
"What? Oh, no, I.. I just ran out of white board. I'm not crazy. Again."  
  
"Just scary smart." Gunn said.  
  
"You really think this will bring Spike back?" Angel asked.  
  
"Well, I had to extrapolate a new variation on interdimensional plasma dynamics on the fly, but.. if the math holds.."  
  
"'The Fly?' I saw that movie. Just make sure there aren't any cause I don't really want Spike all decomposing like Jeff Goldblum." Buffy said.  
  
"All right." Angel said, stifling a chuckle. "First we'll try to get Spike back, and then we'll deal with Pavayne."  
  
"Wait. For this to work, it's going to require a massive surge of dark energy to catalyze the process." Fred said.  
  
"How massive?"  
  
"The equivalent of nuclear evil."  
  
"Well, where the hell are we supposed to find that?"  
  
"Well.. there is a legend that tells of a volcano deep in the forbidden jungles of South Africa." Wesley said.  
  
"Or.. I might know a place a little closer to home." Gunn said.  
  
Buffy, Angel, and Gunn stood in a huge warehouse-sized room that was painted entirely white. "The white room?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Why do you think they call it that?" Gunn asked. "And how are we still in the building, when we're standing in a place that technically doesn't exist."  
  
"So this is your brainstorm." Angel said. "You want to try and to snip off a piece of the conduit that connects Wolfram & Hart to the other dimensions."  
  
"'Want' may be a hair strong."  
  
"Last conduit took the form of that creepy little girl." Buffy said. "No telling what the new one's decided to look like."  
  
"Actually, it's not that bad.." Gunn was cut off by an animal growling and snuffling. "If you like cats."  
  
"I'm kind of a dog person." Angel said. The thing growled.  
  
"Ix-nay on the og-day."  
  
"I'm both, does that count?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Um.. look, we're not here to ruffle anything." Angel said. He held up an empty flask. "We were just wondering if we maybe could borrow a couple of whiskers or.."  
  
The animal snarled and Gunn took the flask from Angel. "Whoa. Hey, easy. It's me. Charles Gunn. You know I wouldn't be here if the situation wasn't heavy. Just asking for a little help: Me to you, personal favor. What do you say?" There was a soft growl and then a black panther appeared in the room. "Yeah." Gunn smiled and the leopard purred. "Who's a good kitty?" He pet the leopard.  
  
"Oh, he's pretty." Buffy said. The leopard looked at her. "Or handsome. Whichever you prefer seeing as how you're the big kitty."  
  
"It's ok. He likes you." Gunn said with a smirk. "He thinks your brave, pretty.. And amusing."  
  
"Gee thanks."  
  
Fred and Wesley were working in the lab on an elaborate machine when Gunn, Buffy, and Angel walked in. "Make sure it's calibrated to minus .058." Fred said to Wesley. She turned to Gunn. "Did you get it?"  
  
Gunn handed Fred the flask containing about a liter of a dark liquid. "Make it count. Told me we ain't getting anymore."  
  
"I still didn't hear it talk." Angel said.  
  
"Maybe you weren't listening right."  
  
Fred put the flask in the machine. "All right, I think we're almost ready."  
  
"How do we let Spike know?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Won't have to." Wesley said.  
  
Fred started the machine. "This baby puts out enough juice to light up ghost city. Anything remotely spectral around here is about to get the tinglies."  
  
"Fun." Buffy said.  
  
Fred looked down at her scanner. After a minute, the thing beeped. "He's here. Spike, step into the circle! Hurry! We've only got one chance at making you corporeal agai.." Fred's sentence was cut off when she started choking. She put her hands to her throat.  
  
"Fred!"  
  
"It's Pavayne!" Gunn said.  
  
"He's killing her." Angel said. They charged toward Fred to try and help her, but Pavayne knocked them all across the room. Pavayne was suddenly knocked into the machine's ring just as it activated. Pavayne was now corporeal. Angel got to his feet and walked up to the machine's ring, while Gunn and Wesley go to Fred's side.  
  
"No. No! Defilers! I'll.. cut you into nothing! I'll feast on your brains. I'll swim in lakes of your own blood." Pavayne yelled.  
  
Angel punched Pavayne, knocking him down. "You'll shut the hell up."  
  
"Don't kill him. If he becomes a spirit again, we'll never stop him." Spike said, suddenly appearing.  
  
"Fine. No killing. Just a whole lot of bruisin'." Angel punched Pavayne again.  
  
Buffy sighed as she got to her feet and looked at Spike, thankful that he was all right.  
  
After checking the office the next day, Spike headed to Buffy's weapons office. She wasn't in the big lab-like area, but he heard sniffles coming from the private office with the Slayer's favorite weapons. He knew it was Buffy. Instead of knocking, he walked through the door and found the Slayer sitting in a corner, knees up to her chest and her forehead laying on one knee, sobbing.  
  
"Hey ducks, what's wrong?" Spike asked, squatting in front of her.  
  
"It wasn't.. I'm not.." Buffy sobbed.  
  
"What's the matter? You're not what?"  
  
"Oh God, I can't ever tell him now."  
  
"Tell who what?"  
  
"I can't tell Angel."  
  
"Ok, sense is coming. Now what's to tell?"  
  
Buffy held out her hand and showed Spike the pregnancy test. It was negative. "Oh Buffy, you thought.."  
  
"I've been sick the past couple of weeks. It was exactly like before.. I missed my period last month and it got me thinking, you know? Then I kept getting dizzy and having hot flashes.. I threw up a few times.. It was only natural to think.. Jasmine said that Angel and I were supposed to have more and I guess I clung to that hope." Buffy let out a sob. "I can't tell him because it'll break his heart to think that.. Oh God, Spike.."  
  
"Shh." Spike touched Buffy's cheek and wiped away her tears and moved her hair out of her face. She laid her forehead back on her knee and wept while Spike stroked her long hair. It was all he was able to do to comfort his best friend. 


	10. Life of the Party p1

Chapter 10  
  
Buffy and Angel walked through the lobby and headed for their office. Lorne kept trying to get their attention, but they both blew him off. They were covered in demon goop because Fred and Wesley's weapon thing hadn't worked right and they wanted to get home and take a shower ASAP. As Angel drove, Buffy inspected her hair.  
  
"It's going to take about 20 shampooings to get this crap out of my hair!" She said, pulling out a slightly dried chunk. "Maybe I should cut it again. It was low maintenance."  
  
"Don't you dare." Angel said. "It looks better long."  
  
"You just don't want me to cut it cause you like my hair."  
  
"I'd kiss you, but.. Ick."  
  
Buffy chuckled and started to lay her head back on the seat, but then decided not to mess up the leather interior even more. She was getting to the point of tired. Not quite exhaustion yet. She'd been feeling so bad lately that her only comforts were hanging out with Spike and slaying whatever baddie came her way. She barely slept anymore. So far, Angel hadn't noticed her lack of happy smiles and sleep. It had been about two weeks since she had found out that she wasn't pregnant, but it still hurt that she had thought it.. Even had the symptoms. Angel had forced her to go to the doctor and the regular doctor had said that she'd had what Dawn had had.  
  
Buffy had also overcompensated with Angel. Every time he wanted her, she'd be there, no questions asked. Sometimes she'd even granted him little favors in the office. Buffy smiled to herself at the memories.  
  
"What?" Angel asked, looking over at her as they rode the elevator up.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"What's that smile for?" He looked over at her, a silly little smile on his face too.  
  
"I was just thinking about you."  
  
"You don't usually smile.."  
  
"That's only because I can usually hide it."  
  
"Eh, you're just smiling cause you're looking forward to taking a shower together."  
  
Buffy laughed. "You caught me."  
  
"Gotta tell you though, that whole demon goop thing is kinda turning me off."  
  
She smacked him lightly. "Shut up. You're a bad liar."  
  
They walked in to their penthouse to find Dawn standing there in her school clothes, hands on her hips and glaring fiercely at them. "Where were you two?"  
  
"Uh.. Slaying the bad guys to keep you safe?" Angel offered.  
  
"You should have called. I was worried sick that something had happened."  
  
"We're fine Dawnie." Buffy said. "And you're right, we should have called in between the fighting to the death all night and the fighting to the death all night."  
  
"Ok, I get your point." Dawn sighed. "I just don't like it when you guys are out all night and don't let me know that you're ok. If something ever happened to you guys.."  
  
Buffy went to hug her sister, but then backed off seeing Dawn's cringe. "If something happened to us, you'd have the greatest family to take care of you. Willow and the others would come back and take care of you. Plus, this time around, I've got a will AND a really great life insurance plan."  
  
"You'd also have all the money that I've collected since I was alive." Angel added. "Which is a lot."  
  
"Plus, you're the heir to the Wolfram and Hart LA Branch. You've got it made."  
  
"Won't make up for the fact that you guys are gone." Dawn shot back.  
  
"Ok, let's not do this now. We're not dead yet, so let's wait until then. You need to get to school and Angel and I need a major shower."  
  
Dawn sighed. "I'll see you guys later." She walked out the door and into the elevator.  
  
Two hours later and one extremely satisfying shower, the sun had come up and Buffy was standing in the bathroom wrapped in her terrycloth robe searching for her leave-in conditioner. Angel was headed out into the bedroom. "Angel, have you seen my conditioner?" She looked over to see Angel standing wrapped in a towel. "You don't have to be decent for me." She walked over and wrapped her arms around his waist, kissing his tattoo before looking over to see Eve sitting on the bed.  
  
"You two were in that shower awfully long." She said. Eve noticed their looks. "I understand. You're both running the whole circus now, a lot of pressure, especially with your hands-on policy. No pun intended. I'm sure you two could use a release."  
  
"We're married." Angel retorted. "That's what we do after bashing open a demonic piñata full of rancid Tabasco."  
  
"What's SHE doing here?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Yes, what DO you want, Eve?"  
  
"You guys stood me up. We had a 7:30.. A meeting." Eve said.  
  
"Oh. Right. Uh.. I'll get my pants."  
  
"Grab mine too." Buffy said. "I can't NOT have my conditioner."  
  
Fifteen minutes later they were dressed and following Eve into the elevator at Wolfram and Hart. Eve looked over them. "So, how's it going, guys?"  
  
"Oh.. I don't know how to answer that question. I don't know. Good. Bad. Look, I spent years doing everything I could to bring this company down. Now my wife and I are the CEOs, and we have to question every move we make because any one of them could be exactly what the senior partners want, so, no, I have no idea how it's going." Angel said.  
  
"We've heard from Angel, how are you, Buffy?"  
  
"Tired. Bored. Agitated. Take your pick." Buffy said, taking Angel's hand.  
  
"Hey, at least you guys can still get your jollies saving the downtrodden from things that go bump in the night."  
  
"Well, you said it yourself. Everyone needs a release." Angel said.  
  
"No. I said you guys need a release. Not everyone bottles all this stuff up like you two."  
  
"We don't bottle." Buffy and Angel both said.  
  
"You bottle."  
  
"We don't bottle." Angel said. When the elevator door opened, a huge skull was there in the doorway. Buffy and Angel both reflexively punched it and the man holding the foam skull fell down to the floor, groaning. They looked around to see there were many people with similar costumes busily working to decorate the lobby.  
  
"Ok, why does it look like we're having a party in here?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Well, maybe 'cause we're having a party in here." Lorne said, walking up. "The Wolfram & Hart Halloween Bash? Ring a bell? The biggest event on the company calendar? I sent you both a small forest's worth of memos on it."  
  
"We're havin' it here?" Angel asked.  
  
"You see what I'm up against?" Lorne asked Eve.  
  
"That's what our 7:30 was about, guys. Your party." Eve said.  
  
"Our party?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Yeah, listen." Lorne said. "Here's the snafu in a nutshell, top cats. Uh, nobody's comin'. Well, some people are coming, but the right people, the A- list people, they seem to be giving it a miss, and if they don't show up, this shindig is gonna be a bust."  
  
"Good." Buffy and Angel said.  
  
"Good?!"  
  
"We weren't too crazy about this thing to begin with." Buffy said. "I mean, we are talking about our clients, right? Our evil clients. Not the sort of folks we really like to show a good time. We'd be a lot happier if the whole thing just kind of fell through. Then we could get back to.."  
  
"Ha ha ha! Ok! Ok! You're killin' me. Can't you just feel up the big picture, Mr. Magoo? It's not about good and evil. It's about party. Party! Capital P! Rhymes with me? About to have a stroke here 'cause you're killin' me!" Lorne yelled. Then he visably calmed. "Listen. I can see that you're both in a-a state, a-a mood, a snit even, so what say we talk about this once you've both.. calmed down a bit?"  
  
"Yeah, sure. That's fine.." Angel said.  
  
"Great. Your office. 25 minutes." Lorne walked off.  
  
"Weird, much?" Buffy headed towards the office.  
  
Angel stopped and looked at all the kooky decorations that cluttered the lobby. Suddenly, Buffy screamed from the office. He and Eve ran over to her. "Buffy, what is it?"  
  
"OH MY GOD! WILLOW!" Buffy yelped, grabbing her best friend in a bear hug. "What are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you. Oh God! I've missed you so much."  
  
"I've missed you too." Willow said. Both girls were crying. "That's why I came. I couldn't stand to be away from my best for so long."  
  
Buffy hugged Willow again. "You have no idea how much this means to me."  
  
"Who's that?" Eve asked.  
  
"Angel!" Willow ran up and hugged Angel.  
  
"Hey Willow. How are you?" Angel asked.  
  
"Much better!" Willow turned back to Buffy and the two women wrapped an arm around each others waists. "Now that I'm here for two weeks."  
  
"Are you serious!?" Buffy squealed.  
  
"Is that all right?"  
  
"It's more than! Dawn'll be so psyched. I'm already psyched! I don't think I can be anymore psyched."  
  
"Great. I know it was short notice and I feel kinda bad.."  
  
"Don't you dare, Willow." Angel said. "This is the best surprise we could ask for."  
  
Willow smiled broadly, matching Buffy's. "So this is the belly of the beast."  
  
"Yup." Buffy said. "I could give you the tour."  
  
"Sure! That'd be awesome. Can't wait to see Fred's lab."  
  
"Buffy, you only have twenty five minutes." Eve said.  
  
"Ugh! Can't we push it back?" Eve shook her head. "Damn it. Fine."  
  
"It's cool Buffy." Willow said. "We can hang out here and talk while we wait. I can take the tour later."  
  
After introducing Eve to Willow, the two women and Angel walked over to the couch and started to talk. Twenty minutes later, Spike walked in. "What's this about some meeting I'm.. Red?"  
  
"Spike!?" Willow looked at the vampire-ghost and then at Buffy and Angel and back. "What the.."  
  
"It's a long story." Angel said.  
  
"Spike's back, but he's a ghost. The amulet was somehow mailed here and when we opened it, Spike popped out like a toy surprise." Buffy said.  
  
"Hey." Spike protested.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Oh.." After a minute of staring, Willow looked back at Buffy and Angel. "So anyway, we found this one girl in Italy and she was a real old-Faith type kinda gal."  
  
"You mean when Faith was evil and killing people?" Angel asked.  
  
"Exactly. And Giles was all, 'You're special now and there's no need for such language.' Kennedy threatened her, which was hysterical, and then Xander came up to put her in Slayer time out and the girl just punched him right in the nose!"  
  
"Awe, poor Xand."  
  
"Yeah, he had to go to the hospital. Luckily she hadn't been trained yet, so she was off and didn't break it."  
  
"How's Giles handling all those girls?" Angel asked.  
  
"He mostly just gives them that Giles look and then clucks at them."  
  
"He clucks?"  
  
"Only when he gets mad." Buffy said. "Then he makes this cluck-cluck sound while he does the Giles-scowl."  
  
"Ah."  
  
Fifteen minutes later, The whole gang had gathered in Buffy and Angel's office, except Lorne. Angel was sitting at his desk, frowning. Buffy and Willow sat on the couch. Gunn was sitting on Angel's desk. Eve was sitting in the chair across from it. Fred was standing near the windows, as was Spike. Wesley was sitting in a chair in the corner. Spike stared out the window at the people in costume. "In my day, no self- respecting creature of the night went out on All Hallow's Eve. We left that to the posers, the blighters who had to dress up and try to be scary." Angel pressed a button that caused the windows to fog. "Magic windows. Will the perks never end?"  
  
Lorne breezed in. "Ah, perfetto, Benigni! Perfetto.." He went back and forth not wanting to walk through Spike. "Ah, si, si, si. Grande. Ciao." He hung up his cell phone. "What did I miss?"  
  
"Us. Waiting." Angel said.  
  
"Oh, right. Sorry."  
  
"And Willow showing up." Buffy said happily.  
  
"Willow!" Lorne smiled and went over and air kissed both cheeks. "It's so great to see you! So, uh, Buffy.. Angel, we just wanted to take a moment and emphasize how important this party really is to us."  
  
"I gotta say Lorne is right." Gunn said. "We gotta show all the big bads that the new regime is here to stay, which, for the most part, boils down to image. And image-wise, if this party doesn't kick ass, we lose face."  
  
"And believe me, milk duds, speaking as the head of your P.R. Department, we need all the face we can get."  
  
"Milk duds?" Angel asked.  
  
"Said with affection."  
  
Buffy stood up. "Ok, listen, we understand the whole 'keeping up appearances' concept, but everyone coming to this thing is unrepentant, dyed-in-the-wool evil."  
  
"Buffy, a good host just doesn't make these sort of judgments."  
  
"We don't know how many of them are holding grudges against us or against each other. It's a perfect recipe for an out-of-control bloodbath." Angel said.  
  
"That's describing every good party I've ever been to. Listen, guys, don't worry about a thing. This is my forte. And I ran Caritas for years, a nightclub with an open-door policy. The good, the bad, the hideously ugly, they all bellied up to my demon bar, but they all played nicely together while they were there."  
  
"And this is exactly the kind of ethical tightrope you've gotta walk now, guys. Which brings up another point.. your employees." Eve said.  
  
"Also evil." Buffy said.  
  
Harmony walked in and handed Angel a mug of blood. "Here's your blood, bossy." Angel glared at her. "Ahem. Boss." She looked over. "Oh! Hey Willow."  
  
"Harmony!?" Willow asked. "What's she doing here?"  
  
"Wesley hired her." Angel said.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" She asked Wesley.  
  
"Back on track." Eve said. "Some of them are evil, yes, but all of them work hard for this firm, and Halloween, well, around here it's like Christmas. Simply put, this is a morale thing."  
  
"Good luck. The morale around here stinks." Harmony said.  
  
"What?" Buffy and Angel both asked, staring.  
  
"Uh-huh. Everybody thinks you guys suck. Well, come on. They're all out there, sweating through their matsudas, worried if you're gonna axe them or, you know, axe them."  
  
"Ok, look, hey, we haven't.." Buffy looked at Angel. "Ok, look, we may have.. killed a couple of them."  
  
"And several clients.. and maybe some potential clients?" Lorne said. "Why do you think my R.S.V.P. list is only a fifth of the size of last year's?"  
  
"It's you two." Eve said.  
  
"Come on, what, do they think we're throwing this thing so Buffy and I can slaughter them?" Everyone in the room looked straight at Buffy and Angel except Willow, who didn't really know what was going on to the full extent.  
  
"Fine. We surrender." Buffy said. "Go ahead, Lorne. Put on your best dog and pony. Angel and I won't get in the way."  
  
"I don't want you two to sit back and just let it happen. I need you guys to get out there and make it happen."  
  
"What does that mean?" Buffy and Angel asked.  
  
Buffy, Angel, and Lorne were riding in a limo that night. Lorne fixed himself a drink while Buffy said, "I feel really bad about leaving Willow. She came here to see us and we just leave."  
  
"She's with Dawn. They're playing ketchup now." Lorne said.  
  
"But we weren't done.."  
  
"Anyway.. Archduke Sebassis. Bona fide nobility from the fiery down under. Commands over 40 legions. He's the living end of a pure bloodline of demonic royalty."  
  
"Great. Just great." Angel said.  
  
"Well, also, the very peak of the A-list mountain. He's the crown jewel of the underworld jet set. If we convince him to come, all the other glitterati will just domino in right behind him, and then.. then we'll be in business."  
  
"This really matters to you, doesn't it?" Buffy said.  
  
"Well, of course. The new Wolfram & Hart.. I mean, we have to.."  
  
"No. I mean, this really matters to you. Personally."  
  
"Yeah. You know, I-I don't have superhuman strength and I'm not a fighter and I'm no Willow. Quantum physics makes me nauseous and I barely made a passing grade at mystical studies, but I'm on your team. This is something I can do. I believe it has a purpose that can help you guys, even if you don't."  
  
"Well, we're here, aren't we? We agreed to this."  
  
"No, you-you did. You guys did. And I promise you won't regret it. But, hey, let's leave it that you two let me do most of the talking, huh? You just kind of smile and try not to rip anybody apart. Ok?"  
  
"I guess." Angel said.  
  
"Oh, and Buffy?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Put on that enchanting little smile of yours and turn on the charm. Sebassis loves pretty things."  
  
Buffy scoffed at Lorne. At the.. Um, lair.. The three were seated in chairs facing a pale demon with horns seated on a high throne. Another similar demon stood at his side. Despite her revulsion, Buffy found herself smiling like a giddy fool and slightly flirting with the demon.  
  
"So.. this is the mighty Angel and his wife the Slayer. I've been told many things about you both. Restless frogs, hmm? Making lots of waves in your little swamp."  
  
"We're just trying to keep the fly population down." Buffy said, still smiling.  
  
Sebassis seemed to like Buffy's charms. "Yes. Though I do prefer the tales of your evil side and Angel's counterpart Angelus. Ah, you both had some flair, children."  
  
"Well, I guess we all mellow in our old age." Angel said.  
  
"Your contempt is fragrant."  
  
Sebassis sipped blue liquid from a wine glass and finished the drink. He put his glass down and a smaller, thinner, paler demon walked out to him. The smaller slave-like demon pulled a cork out of his arm and held his arm out over Sebassis's glass. The blue liquid Sebassis was drinking flowed from the slave's uncorked vein into the glass. Lorne witnessed this with great discomfort, although he tried to hide it. Buffy just kept smiling even though she was cringing on the inside.  
  
"Uh.. uh, so, your lordship, we were deeply grieved when you declined our invitation. I mean, we'd love for you to reconsider." Lorne said. He slapped Angel's arm.  
  
"Yeah.. ha. Yeah." Angel said.  
  
"A party just isn't a party without the archduke." Buffy said cheerily.  
  
"You're sure you wouldn't like some.." He offered Buffy.  
  
"No thanks. I'm not a heavy drinker. But the offer's super nice."  
  
He offered Angel a glass. Angel held up his hands. "I'm fine. But thanks."  
  
"Oh, come, come. We're all blood-drinkers here.. Except the Slayer. Ah, but that's right. You choose to drink the blood of swine. Filthy beasts."  
  
"Actually, that's a misconception."  
  
"Filthy! Yes! Honestly, I don't know how he does it." Lorne said. He chuckled and sipped from a glass filled with the blue liquid. "Mmm. Wow, this is.." He looked at the slave. "You, uh... you really.. you taste great."  
  
"Well.. in light of this amusing chat, the charm of Angel's darling little wife, and of my longstanding acquaintance with you, Lorne, I will come to the gala." Sebassis said.  
  
"Oh, that's wonderful news, your lordship! Well, we don't wanna waste any more of your valuable time." Lorne stood and set down the glass. "We'll- we'll show ourselves out." Buffy, Angel, and Lorne exited the room.  
  
Buffy shook her head. "What was that?"  
  
"Were you flirting with him?" Angel asked.  
  
"Ew! No!"  
  
"Great performance Buffy." Lorne said. "You really wowed him! I didn't know you had it in you."  
  
"Neither did I." 


	11. Life of the Party p2

Chapter 11  
  
The party had started and there was disco music playing. A glittery disco ball shimmered in the lights. Harmony was the only person dancing on the dance floor. Fred and Wesley were playing blend-in-with-the-wall. Dawn and Willow were talking excitedly about anything and everything in a quiet corner. Spike was walking around, looking a little freaked out. Buffy and Angel sat in their office watching a hockey game. They had dressed up, but couldn't really bring themselves to really go.  
  
Buffy had on a black skirt, knee high stiletto heeled boots, and a long sleeved, black lace shirt that clung to her and then at the wrists, flared out. She sat in Angel's lap, her head laying against his shoulder. He held her gently, stroking her back.  
  
Lorne breezed in. "Buffy, Angel, it's a graveyard out there, and all the guests wanna meet the new guys in charge."  
  
"Look, Lorne, we.. We, uh, we have things. We're busy." Angel said.  
  
"We're brooding." Buffy said.  
  
Lorne looked at the TV. "Oh, you're watching hockey!"  
  
"Yeah, but my team is losing." Angel said.  
  
"Get up off your keisters and get out there! I can't steer this ship of fools by my lonesome! I just can't do it! I.." Lorne groaned and rubbed his temples in pain as his frustration escalated.  
  
"Lorne?" Buffy asked, sitting up a little straighter.  
  
He looked up, all smiles. "Let's boogie, sweet tarts." Sighing, Buffy got up and Angel held out his arm. She slipped hers through and they followed Lorne out. "Well, so over there we have the Britzai representatives. We can get to them later. Oh, and there's the elder of the Fell Brotherhood. Come on, let's go say hi!" Angel rolled his eyes as he and Buffy went with Lorne. After meeting and greeting a few guests, they ran into Spike.  
  
"What am I doing here?" He asked himself.  
  
"Yeah, Spike. I thought you hated these kind of things." Buffy joked.  
  
"I would've thought the same of BOTH of you."  
  
"Oh, no, they're doing great. They've already not killed, like, 100 guests." Lorne said.  
  
"They don't have to. Party's already dead."  
  
"Oh, really, Spike, would it kill you to be a little more positive? Hmm?"  
  
"The Archduke Sebassis!" A male voice suddenly rang out.  
  
Sebassis walked in and people gathered around him, kneeling and kissing his hands and feet. Lorne looked at Angel. "Mmm. Ok, sports. You're on, and please, for me, can you try to be nice to him? Just this one time, huh?"  
  
"Yes. Fine. Sycophants, worms. Don't writhe all at once. It's sickening." Sebassis said.  
  
"Archduke Sebassis!" Angel called. Sebassis held out his hand to be kissed and Angel shook it instead. "Thanks so much for coming."  
  
"Yes, well.."  
  
"Really, really thrilled that you're here."  
  
Buffy smiled. "Hi Sebassis."  
  
"Mrs. Summers. You're looking pleasing tonight."  
  
"Only the best for our most esteemed guest.  
  
"Artode, welcome. Welcome. Love the jacket, by the way." Lorne said.  
  
"It's Pylean." Artode said.  
  
"Oh, made in Pylea. Ha. My home dimension."  
  
"Not made in, made from. I skinned it myself. Anybody you know?"  
  
"Well, great. Thanks for dropping by. Ha ha." Lorne walked away.  
  
"And you look just.." Angel continued. "Well, I don't have to tell you how awesome you look. You know how awesome you look. He knows how awesome he looks, right?"  
  
"Buffy, Angel, hey." Lorne said. "We don't wanna be greedy with his eminence. Thank you, your lordship."  
  
"Thank you." Sebassis said.  
  
"Absolutely. Really. Thrilled to have you here."  
  
"Bye." Buffy said.  
  
"Okey-dokey! Ok, that'll do it. Thank you. Come on." Lorne pulled them away.  
  
Buffy and Angel headed over to a dark corner and tried to hide. Their hands were all over each other. Angel kept rubbing her back and holding her waist with his free hand while she made little circles on his lower back and gripped his hip with her other hand. She laid her head on his shoulder just as Eve came up.  
  
"I have to say, I'm impressed. I saw you two with Sebassis. I honestly didn't know you two had it in you." She said.  
  
"Yeah, well, it was an act." Angel said, then he glanced at Buffy. "We think."  
  
"I picked up on that from 100 yards away. Yep. You were bangin' it out to the cheap seats."  
  
"Funny. I was gonna say the same thing about that dress." Buffy said.  
  
Eve rolled her eyes and walked away just as Lorne glided up. He noticed Buffy and Angel's cozy position. "Oh, you two. Really. The sexual tension? Oh, with a knife you could cut it, huh? Get a room."  
  
The two glanced at each other and then dashed for the office. Angel and Buffy began making out inside their office, kissing passionately. Buffy jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist. He led them over to the couch and started to fall, but missed and they ended up behind it. Neither cared as they kept going.  
  
Willow and Dawn looked around the room. "This is really weird. They weren't like this an hour ago." Willow said.  
  
"I noticed. Kinda creepy." Dawn said. She looked at Spike dancing with Harmony. "Especially that."  
  
Willow shuddered. "I've never seen Spike dance. No wonder he just stuck to killing things."  
  
"CONGA! WHOO!" Some lawyer yelled to the others.  
  
"Maybe home would be a good idea." Dawn said.  
  
"We should find Buffy and Angel first." Willow looked around. "Did you see where they went?"  
  
"No. I saw them hamming it up with some self-involved demon, but then I lost them."  
  
"Hey, there go Fred and Wesley. Let's see if they know."  
  
"Guys!" Dawn said as she and Willow ran up. "Have you seen Buffy and Angel?"  
  
Fred and Wesley both looked at them. "Um.." Wesley said. "I think they went thataway." He pointed towards the elevators.  
  
"Nononononono." Fred slurred. "They went up there and THEN thataway."  
  
"Are you guys drunk?" Willow asked.  
  
"Quite bloody smashed, thank you." Wesley said. "Have you seen my tutu? I think I lost it."  
  
"Wesley, you don't own a tutu." Dawn said.  
  
"Oh. Well have you seen it anyways?"  
  
Dawn and Willow groaned and walked off. They found Lorne. "Hey Lorne," Dawn said. "Have you seen Buffy and Angel?"  
  
"Yeah! They were standing in the corner all over each other last I saw." Lorne said.  
  
"When was that?" Willow asked.  
  
"Um.. About an hour ago."  
  
"Oh, gee thanks."  
  
"You two should lighten up and have fun like the rest of us. You don't see anyone else worrying about where their friends are!" Lorne moved away with the crowd.  
  
Willow and Dawn looked at each other. "What were we doing?"  
  
"Joining the conga line!" Dawn said, grabbing on.  
  
"OH! Right!" Willow grabbed on to Dawn and congaed off.  
  
Buffy enjoyed the feel of Angel's hands all over her body. They were behind the couch going at it for the sixth time now. Suddenly, voices floated to them. "Come on, guys. I'm telling you I did not do anything." Lorne said.  
  
"Angel? You in here? Ang.." Fred started.  
  
Angel popped his head up from the floor behind the couch where he was naked with Buffy. "Ohh! What?"  
  
"Hey! Angel's getting some! Good on you, mate." Spike said happily.  
  
Buffy sat up and looked over the back of the couch. "What's wrong with you?"  
  
"I'd say he must be under the effect of Lorne.. and Buffy, too, presume- presumally." Wesley said.  
  
"But they do that a lot, so it's hard to tell." Gunn said.  
  
"Prezoomally." Fred snorted.  
  
"Lorne's doing it.. something to all of us." Wesley slurred.  
  
"I am not!" Lorne said.  
  
"Everything he's told us to do, we're doing. Spike's thinking positive, Gunn is peeing all over the office."  
  
"And we're a little bit drunk." Fred said. "And Willow and Dawn didn't come with us cause they were partyin! WOO!"  
  
"Yes. But not because we drank, because Lorne told us to be drunk."  
  
"Lorne told you to pee all over the office?" Angel asked Gunn.  
  
"Lord, I hope so." Gunn said.  
  
"This is crazy. I am not doing this." Lorne said. "I would know if I was doing this. I don't even know what this is."  
  
"You know, I really love your guys' desk." Spike said.  
  
"Oh, we like it too. We had sex a couple of times over there." Buffy said. "But.. I don't get it. I thought Lorne was just an empath demon."  
  
"Territory! Wait." Gunn said. "This morning, Lorne told me to stake out my territory."  
  
"Right. Territorial marking, taken a little too literally." Wesley said.  
  
"Hey, guys, keep it in your pants." Fred said to Buffy and Angel who were making out again.  
  
"Ohh. Hey, I did not tell Gunn to go water the ferns. I did not do anything." Lorne said.  
  
"You had your sleep removed." Gunn said.  
  
"What?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Yeah. He hasn't slept in a month."  
  
"Oh, dear. An empath demon deprived of sleep for that long.."  
  
"What does that have to do with it?" Lorne asked.  
  
"Something, apparently." Fred said.  
  
"Lorne, why would you let them do that to you?" Angel asked. Buffy pulled him back to her.  
  
"I had to do something, didn't I?" Lorne asked. "I mean, you don't know what I've had to deal with. I'm the center of gravity in a town that's full of borderline disorder celebrities and powerbrokers. All the hand- holding and the ego-stroking and the 4 A.M. Jacuzzi strategy sessions.." Wesley caught Gunn peeing in the corner. "I just couldn't keep up with it, even without sleeping."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell us? I would have.."  
  
"What? Fired me?"  
  
"I would've helped you, which is what I'm gonna do now, ok?" Angel stood. "Ahh." He realized he was naked and used a couch cushion to cover his privates. Buffy giggled.  
  
"Well, I.. ok."  
  
"Wes, Fred, go find Lorne's sleep and figure out a way to put it back in his head."  
  
"Yessir!" Wesley said.  
  
"Done and doner." Fred said. Wesley picked Fred up by the waist as he walked out the door with her.  
  
"Lorne, you just stay tight and try not to, you know, talk.. AH!" Angel looked down at Buffy was scratching and nipping at his thighs.  
  
"Angel, we still got a party going on. Someone has to make sure there's ice in the drinks." Lorne said.  
  
"Oh, right."  
  
"Ooh, ooh! Me! Me! I'm your people person." Spike said, jumping up and down.  
  
"Gunn, go on the floor, see if anyone else is under the Lorne effect."  
  
"Check." Gunn said.  
  
"And stop with the.."  
  
"Do my best." He walked out.  
  
"And, Buffy, you stay here with me, and we'll have more sex."  
  
"I'm way on it." Buffy said, pulling him back down to her.  
  
"Brilliant plan. Excellent." Spike said.  
  
A half an hour later, Sebassis and his gang burst through Buffy and Angel's office door carrying their weapons which resembled crossbows. Angel was still on the floor behind the couch with Buffy while Spike and Lorne were still hanging out at Angel's desk.  
  
"What a fantastic entrance!" Spike said.  
  
"Sebassis?" Angel asked.  
  
"The nerve, the raw nerve to lay a hand on one of mine!" Sebassis said.  
  
"What is this? Lower your weapons."  
  
"These darts are poisoned, vampire. Powerful enough to put you in a coma for a week. Enough to kill any one of them before their next heartbeat." One of the demons pointed a crossbow at Buffy's heart. Angel moved in front of her as she slipped on his jacket. "You murdered Artode. I imagine we were to be next."  
  
"He didn't murder anyone." Buffy said.  
  
"Dress yourself, Angel. You have a public execution to attend."  
  
"What?" Buffy asked. "What the hell is going on?" She slipped on her skirt and shirt and then stood up. "This is a big mistake."  
  
A woman screamed from the lobby. Sebassis looked at his demons and then at Buffy and Angel. "Move."  
  
The crowd cleared from the dance floor as the woman's screams turned into horrified moans. Sebassis and gang lead Buffy, Angel, Lorne, and Spike out into the lobby to investigate, where they found Devlin the 'Human Bean' demon lying on the buffet table, either unconscious or dead. "Oh boy." Lorne said.  
  
"Yeah. Somebody really dipped his chip." Willow giggled.  
  
Sebassis pointed his poisoned arrow at Lorne, then Angel. Angel held up his hands."Ok, Sebassis, I don't know what's going on here, but we are not behind it."  
  
"Enough lies, vampire." Sebassis said.  
  
"Ok, everybody, ok. Yes, the party's taking an unfortunate turn momentarily. So let's not.." Lorne was interrupted by Sebassis cocking his weapon. "Fight."  
  
"That's not fair." Buffy said, stepping up. A demon punched her in the face and she fell back into Angel's arms, her lip split.  
  
"Wait! Please, wait. I'm doing this. It's me. I mean, it's not me." Lorne said. "But I haven't been myself lately. Somehow, I'm making people do things and I'm controlling them." Sebassis pointed the weapon at Lorne. "Whoa."  
  
"Well, then, Pylean, you're making me kill you. Is that consistent with your theory?" Sebassis asked.  
  
Just then, a roar could be heard from the staircase that overlooked the lobby. A giant green creature dressed in a blue suit and purple shirt just like Lorne's jumped down from the balcony, landing right in front of Sebassis. The creature looked like a thick-necked, muscle-man version of Lorne. It growled menacingly at them.  
  
"Oh my God!" Dawn said.  
  
"It's me." Lorne said.  
  
Spike smiled broadly. "That's one bitchin' big suit."  
  
Hulking Lorne smacked one of Sebassis's demons, knocking him down. Sebassis fired a poisoned dart into the massive creature, but to no effect. Sebassis's slave unhooked his leash from Sebassis's belt and snuck away while the fight went on.  
  
"Lorne, what the hell is this?" Angel asked.  
  
"Stop it! Stop killing! Listen to me. Me!" Hulking Lorne smacked Lorne, knocking him down. "Wow, I must really hate myself."  
  
Hulking Lorne walked toward Sebassis, growling and glaring. Angel backed up, protecting Buffy and Sebassis. "Sebassis, run."  
  
Sebassis scurried off behind a pole so he could watch the goings on. Hulking Lorne smacked Angel, sending him across the room. Buffy tried to hit hulking Lorne over the head with a statue, but to no avail. Hulking Lorne shoved Buffy across the room, where she landed on top of Angel.  
  
"Ohh! Oh, sorry about that." Lorne called.  
  
Sebassis tried to crawl away up the stairs, but hulking Lorne went after him. Angel picked himself up and attacked hulking Lorne, punching him repeatedly, but not really hurting him. The lobby elevator doors opened, and Wesley and Fred were inside but facing the wrong way. They turned around and walked into the lobby. Fred was carrying a gun-shaped device.  
  
"It's here! It's manifested!" Wesley said.  
  
"Angel." Fred said.  
  
Hulking Lorne was beating Angel. Fred and Wesley walked up behind Lorne who was watching the fight with horror. Fred pointed the gun up in front of her. "Shoot it, Fred. Now!" Buffy said.  
  
Fred turned and pointed the gun at Lorne's head as he watched the fight. "Oh." Fred pulled the trigger and Lorne collapsed to the ground. "Oh. Ohh! Ohh."  
  
"Oh, my God! They shot Lorney-tunes." Harmony said.  
  
"No. I'm ok. Just gonna rest my eyes a little bit." Lorne said. Hulking Lorne stood over Angel, reared back, ready to pummel him, when he disappeared in a puff of blue smoke. Lorne was snoring.  
  
Buffy and Angel tucked Lorne in under a blanket on their couch. Spike was sitting on Angel's desk next to Eve, who was talking on the cell phone. Willow stood near the door. She said, "That thing.. I think it was a manifestation of Lorne's subconscious. It peeled away from his mind, using Lorne's supernatural powers to punch its way into our world."  
  
"'Punch' is the definitely right word. Why was it trying to kill everyone?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I don't think it was. It may have just been processing the conflicts that Lorne normally deals with in his sleep, acting out on the emotional responses he has to the people around him."  
  
"I guess Lorne makes some judgments after all." Angel said.  
  
Gunn walked in. "Hey, I spoke with Sebassis' people. Explained what I could."  
  
"So what do we got? Lawsuit? Demon war?"  
  
"No. It seems like they enjoy a little blood sport at their social functions. Looks like we're ok."  
  
"We're not ok." Buffy said. "We've been so focused on the dangers outside that we didn't see the ones within. This place is trying to change us. We can't ever forget that."  
  
"Pretty damn good party, though. I'll see you guys tomorrow.. well, today, but later. Oh, and your chair.."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't sit in it. I already called janitorial."  
  
"Why can't I.."  
  
"You pissed in the big woman's chair? That's fantastic!" Spike said.  
  
"Spike, can you please turn off that warm fuzzy?" Buffy asked.  
  
"What, the Lorne thing? Wore off. I just think that's bloody fabulous."  
  
"All right, guys, good night. Let Lorne get some sleep, all right?" Angel said. "Out."  
  
"All right. Just this once." Spike nodded and left.  
  
Buffy looked at Willow. "Sorry about all of this. I wish we could have had a better reunion."  
  
"Eh, what would our friendship be without the crazies?" Willow asked.  
  
Buffy slung her arm around Willow's shoulders. "Maybe we can go out and get some breakfast?"  
  
"Sounds great to me."  
  
"Angel?"  
  
"Coming." Angel slipped on his jacket and followed the women out. 


	12. The Cautionary Tale Of Numero Cinco p1

Chapter 12  
  
Buffy was headed down the hall, walking towards her office. Lorne was up ahead talking to Number Five the mailman. "You're an aging sexpot celebrating a decade of turning 29. You got 2 little rugrats that aren't that little, a husband who thinks the extras trailer is a buffet table, and gravity ain't doing you any favors." Lorne held out two greeting cards. "So 'Happy Birthday, Sexy Mama' or.." Lorne spotted Buffy. "Buffy. Hey, Buffy, sweetie, you're sorta like a woman."  
  
"Oh, that's.. not a compliment." Buffy said.  
  
"Well, I mean, more so than El Cid here. I need some insight. You're an aging.."  
  
"I heard." Buffy smiled. "Don't send a card, don't mention her birthday, send a big bunch of flowers just because she's special and perfect and eternally blah-di-blah."  
  
"Huh! Staring me right in the face. Genius."  
  
"And I'm a lot like a woman." Buffy started to walk on. "Hi Number Five."  
  
"Oh, you're all woman. You're everywoman. You're Wonder Woman!" Lorne called after her.  
  
"Damn straight." Buffy called back. She headed to her office where Gunn caught up to her. "Hey Gunn."  
  
"Hey Buffy. Your husband in there?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Should be."  
  
"Good, cause I need both of you to sign these contracts."  
  
"Uh.. Sure." She opened the door to her office. Angel looked up from the desk. "Hi honey."  
  
"Hey baby." He stood and came over to kiss her. "Hi Gunn. What's up?"  
  
"I don't want any kisses. I just want signatures." Gunn said.  
  
"Ok."  
  
"Come on boys, conference room." Buffy said. She led them over to the table and they sat down. Gunn handed each of them a fancy pen. Angel signed his name on a contract and then Buffy did the same right next to it.  
  
Angel noticed the deep red color of the ink. "Is that blood?"  
  
"Yeah, but it's ok. It's yours. Each pen has your blood in it." Gunn said.  
  
"Huh." Angel continued signing. "And how is that ok?"  
  
"Demon law requires blood signatures on all legal documents. Your guys' Herbie Hancock here locks and loads these docs. Then I take 'em into court and fire away."  
  
"Locks and loads. Got it."  
  
"As C.E.O.s and presidents of Wolfram & Hart, you guys just bankrupted a company that dumps raw demon waste into Santa Monica bay, banished a clan of pyro warlocks into a hell dimension, and started a foster care program for kids whose parents have been killed by vampires. Not bad for a day's pay."  
  
"Awe, we started a foster care program? Yay us." Buffy said.  
  
"Yeah. Great." Angel said.  
  
"Look, I know legal weasels and business deals aren't as heroic to you as rescuing young honeys from tumescent trolls, but I love what we do." Gunn said.  
  
Buffy scrunched up her face. "Tumescent.. trolls?"  
  
"Went a little Johnnie Cochran on ya. You know, for the first time in my life, I can't wait to get to work in the morning. You guys have always had your special powers. Now I have mine."  
  
"Isn't that special!" Spike said, sitting on the table. "We all have special powers. Anybody wanna trade? I'll swap ya two-for-one. Walking through walls, picking up mugs.." Which he did. "In exchange for.. I don't know, how about me not being dead?"  
  
"How about you not being here?" Angel said.  
  
"If wishes were horses.."  
  
"Play nice you two." Buffy warned. Angel stood and looked out the window. "Hey, you ok?"  
  
"Yeah. Fine. Like Gunn said, not bad for a day's pay." Angel said.  
  
"Sweetie, I know you hate working here.. what with the bureaucracy and the fact that most of our employees want us dead. But Gunn told me yesterday that in-house attacks are down 30% this week. And we've done more good here in a month than Angel Investigations and the Scooby Gang did in a year."  
  
"I know, I'm just.. I don't know, just feeling a bit.."  
  
"Squishy?" Spike cut in.  
  
"Disconnected."  
  
"Are you serious? Here you are, finally living a piece of the high life.. new clothes, new cars, my old tumble fetching you tasty snacks, your beautiful, faithful, ever loving wife at your side.. and what's your gripe? 'I feel disconnected.' You want to feel disconnected, try being a bloody ghost for a bit. Try bobbin' around with no touch or taste or smell. Not many fates worse than that, I'd wager." Number Five walked into the office pushing his mail cart. "Ok, maybe that."  
  
"Leave him alone Spike." Buffy said.  
  
"Who? The Masked Mailman or Peaches?"  
  
"Both of them."  
  
Gunn patted Angel's shoulder. "I know what you're saying about the disconnect. Much as I love the legalese, gotta admit, I miss mixing it up sometimes, you know? I miss getting my hands dirty."  
  
Wesley walked in with a report. "Then you'll be interested in this. 3 people found with their hearts cut out in East Los Angeles, all within the last couple of hours. The police are on it, but my sense is it's more demonic than some murderous nut job" Number Five pushed his cart out of the room.  
  
"So we're ruling out demonic nut jobs, then, are we?" Spike asked.  
  
"Hush Spike." Buffy said. She looked at Wesley. "We should check it out."  
  
"Right." Angel said.  
  
"Yo! You missed one." Gunn called after Number Five.  
  
"I'll get it." Angel took the envelope from Gunn and went after Number Five. "Wait! Wait. Hold up for a second."  
  
Buffy turned to look at the others. "Ok guys, weapons all around. But nothing to flashy there could be civil.." She was cut off when Angel came flying through the windows. "Angel!"  
  
"I really hate this place." Angel sat up amidst the shattered glass that once was the office wall. "Ow."  
  
Buffy kneeled next to him. "Are you ok? What happened?"  
  
"The mail guy threw me."  
  
"What?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Number 5?!" Spike asked. "He did this? Isn't he like 100 years old?"  
  
"Kinda hard to tell with the mask." Angel retorted.  
  
Gunn opened his cell phone. "Angel was attacked. Lock it down. No. One of ours. The mail guy, Number Five."  
  
"Why did he attack you?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I was trying to give him the mail?" Angel said.  
  
"Security's on it. We'll find him." Gunn said.  
  
"Look, this is just a thing. Maybe I, you know, startled him or something."  
  
"I'm not taking any chances. This is Wolfram & Hart. You have enemies everywhere."  
  
Fred walked up to the office, noticing the broken glass. Spike spotted her. "Hey! Fred! Did ya hear? Angel attacked the old mail guy."  
  
"What?!" Angel asked, standing up.  
  
"Not Number Five? You didn't hurt him?" Fred said, rushing over to the doors.  
  
"No. I.. He attacked me."  
  
"We should find him." Wesley said.  
  
"Absolutely. Wanna buy him a pint. Bloody made my day." Spike said.  
  
"Spike, shut up." Buffy said, agitated.  
  
Gunn's cell phone went off. "Gunn. Good. Great. Security found him. They're escorting him off the premises. You do wanna fire his masked ass, don't you?"  
  
"Um, I don't.." Angel started.  
  
"I think it's best." Wesley advised.  
  
"Look, really, I'm fine. Let's just get back to the bod.."  
  
Lorne walked into the office. "Holy tornado! It's true!"  
  
"Yeah. It was amazing. Angel went right off on the mail guy." Spike said.  
  
"Oh, this must've been one major smackdown."  
  
"There was no smacking." Angel said.  
  
"That's not the hubbub I'm hearing, honeybuns. Word on the web has you sucker-punching Grandpa Moses."  
  
"The web?" Buffy and Angel both asked.  
  
"Don't sweat it, sweetie pies. I've got my flak catcher spinning this into P.R. gold. Once the word spreads you beat up an innocent old man, well, the truly terrible will think twice before going toe-to-toe with our avenging Angel."  
  
"Yes. The geriatric community will be soiling their nappies when they hear you're on the case." Spike gave Angel a thumbs-up. "Bravo."  
  
"Spike, shut up." Buffy said.  
  
"What're you gonna do? Hit me?"  
  
"I know where that amulet's at and it won't take me long to get to a graveyard."  
  
"I didn't beat anybody up, ok?" Angel said. "So let's just focus on what's important, like Wes' bodies."  
  
"Wesley has bodies?" Fred asked.  
  
"Someone found 3 bodies." Buffy said.  
  
"Four." Wesley said. "Another one was just found in a church after an All Souls' mass."  
  
"All souls?"  
  
"Prayers for the departed."  
  
"You should know that, being departed and all." Spike said to Angel. Buffy glared at him.  
  
"Tonight was a special service. It's the Mexican day of the dead."  
  
Angel was driving a red convertible classic car down the damp streets of Los Angeles, with Buffy seated in the front seat. Gunn and Wesley were in the back seat with Spike sitting between them. "Still not sure why blondie ghost tagged along." Gunn said.  
  
"Not much choice really, is there?" Spike said. "Can't drink, smoke, diddle my willy."  
  
"Gross Spike." Buffy said.  
  
"What? Doesn't leave much to do other than watch you blokes stumble around playing Agatha Christie while the Slayer takes down the demon."  
  
"She doesn't always take down the demons." Gunn said defensively.  
  
"Oh please, the last couple'a demons you people have gone up against, she's stepped up and taken em down."  
  
"Not Lorne."  
  
"That's cause if she killed that big oaf, the original Lorne pro'ly woulda died."  
  
"Spike, enough with the tales. I got enough of it from Andrew last year." Buffy said.  
  
"Hey, you weren't even there. I had to put up with more of it."  
  
The Slayer rolled her eyes. "Guys, weapons check."  
  
"Nothin' wrong with that." Gunn said, checking out his axe. "We may need these bad boys if we're going up against some Mexican day of the dead heart- suckin' monster."  
  
"Angel, the church we're looking for is about half a mile..." Wesley started.  
  
Angel swerved the car off to the side of the road, stopping it with a screech near the entrance of an alley that had been decorated with dolls. He got out and headed down the alley. Buffy grabbed her sword and followed.  
  
"Always was a bit of a drama queen." Spike said.  
  
"Shut up Spike." Buffy said. She caught up with Angel and found him staring at the heartless body. "You know that dinner we were planning on having with Willow and Dawn? Let's reschedule, huh?"  
  
The others walked up. "Too late." Spike said.  
  
"So you what, heard his scream?" Gunn asked.  
  
Angel walked away in disgust. Wesley inspected the body, which had a gaping bloody hole in the middle of the chest. Buffy looked over at Angel and then at Gunn. "He smelled the blood."  
  
"Nothing grabs a vamp's attention like the ruby red." Spike said.  
  
"Notice no matter how uptown we go, we always wind up in some stanky hole in the middle of the night?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Angel! His heart's missing." Wesley said. "Looks like it was cut out with some sort of crude knife. And based on these blood spatters, I'd say it was still beating when it was removed."  
  
Buffy walked over to Angel and kissed his shoulder. He took her hand and brought her around to stand in front of him. "The blood's fresh. This just happened."  
  
"So whatever did this might still be close." Buffy said.  
  
"How close?" Gunn asked.  
  
"I'd say 10, 11 feet." Spike said, looking behind the others.  
  
The gang was face-to-face with a snarling demon dressed in some sort of armor, complete with plumed helmet. The demon had lots of pointed teeth and wrinkly yellowish-gray skin. The demon was armed with a sword, and Angel engaged it using his sword to block its swings. Wesley grabbed his shotgun, Gunn had his axe, Buffy had her sword as she jumped in with Angel, and Spike looked around for a weapon of his own. The demon overpowered Angel and threw him into a pile of boxes across the alley. Buffy dodged blows and got in a couple of good ones, but the demons grabbed her by the throat and hauled her up. Wesley pointed the shotgun at the demon and pulled the trigger, but the shots didn't stop the demon. Three rounds later, the demon punched Wesley, sending him across the alley as well. It still held Buffy who was kicking with all her might. Gunn swung his axe into the back of the demon, who shrieked and dropped Buffy.  
  
"How you like that, sparky?" The demon turned toward Gunn and snarled. "Ok, so next time, I hold onto the axe." The demon swings punched at Gunn, who backed up.  
  
"Not that way, you git!" Spike said. He saw a nearby 2"x4" plank of wood. "Now focus." He reached for the plank and swung at the demon and realized he was empty-handed. "Bloody useless!"  
  
Angel got up and walked toward the demon, who pushed a dumpster at Angel. Buffy dove at the demon again and he punched her in the side, sending her crashing into the chain-link fence and then ran away. She held her side as she got up and looked at Angel. "See, she's always got the last blow." Spike said.  
  
Back at the office, Buffy sat painfully on the desk letting Willow check out the nasty bruises on her throat and side. "At least you're not bleeding for once." The red headed witch said.  
  
"But those bruises look nasty." Spike said.  
  
"I think you may have a broken rib, but other than that you're ok." Willow said, letting Buffy's shirt fall gently.  
  
"You think you can do a glamour and hide these marks on my neck?" Buffy asked hoarsely.  
  
"Sure. I'll get on it."  
  
Angel walked in. "You ok?"  
  
"I'll heal." Buffy said. She took the glass of water Spike offered her. "Thanks."  
  
"Where you going?" Angel asked Willow.  
  
"I'm going to see if Wesley has the supplies for me to do a glamour on Buffy." Willow said, walking out.  
  
"Whoa, whoa.. You're gonna let her put a spell on you?"  
  
"I just want to hide these bruises." Buffy said. "Can't have people thinking you beat me."  
  
"I would never.. You know that."  
  
"I know that, but other people don't. They're not gonna have ammunition against you, even if it's false."  
  
"She's so caring and courageous. And here you are complaining about your horrible life." Spike said, sitting on the desk next to Buffy.  
  
Wesley handed Angel a file. Buffy was sitting on the couch with Willow and Spike. Angel got up and walked over to them so Buffy could see the file too. "It's an Aztec demon named Tezcatcatl." Wesley said. "We don't know a lot about it yet. Our codex is missing several key pictographs. What we do know is that it's been here before.. 50 years ago to the day."  
  
"The day of the dead." Buffy said.  
  
"Yes, though that may be a coincidence. I'll know better once we determine why it's here in L.A. or what it wants. Wolfram & Hart has a brief record of what happened. According to this, Tezcatcatl rose in the same place, East Los Angeles, killed over a dozen people before it was finally defeated."  
  
"Defeated?" Angel asked.  
  
"Yes, by 5 heroes. Brothers. They were the champions of that time."  
  
"They destroyed the demon?"  
  
"Yes, but at quite a price. The brothers were all killed. All but one."  
  
"Not to be captain obvious, but.. either the brothers didn't really finish the demon off, or it's figured out a way to come back from wherever they sent it." Willow said.  
  
"Either way, best of luck." Spike said.  
  
"You said one of the brothers survived. Is he still alive?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Yes." Wesley said.  
  
"Ok then, Angel and I'll talk to him. I'm sure he'll want to help. Do we have his number?"  
  
"As a matter of fact, we do." 


	13. The Cautionary Tale Of Numero Cinco p2

Chapter 13  
  
Angel knocked on the door of apartment number 8 and Number Five answered, still wearing his red, white, and blue mask with the number 5 printed on the forehead. Buffy smiled broadly at him.  
  
"Hi." Angel said. Number Five picked up Angel by the lapels and threw his back against the wall.  
  
"Hey!" Buffy yelped.  
  
"Unh! Stop doing that."  
  
"Perhaps I wasn't clear in our last conversation." Number Five said.  
  
Buffy grabbed Number Five and shoved him away from Angel and pushed him against the wall. Angel walked over. "What conversation? You threw me through a window."  
  
"I heard you speaking. You were going to drag me into your quest for the Aztec demon."  
  
"No, we weren't. I was gonna give you some mail."  
  
"Oh. Sorry."  
  
"Now I'm dragging you back in." Angel threw Number 5 across the room. He stood back up. "We need your help. You and your brothers beat this Aztec warrior thing first time around. And we need to know how."  
  
"I'm sorry. In case you haven't noticed, I have retired from that life."  
  
"Wearing that mask doesn't exactly hide your past."  
  
"It reminds me that only a fool would want to be a champion."  
  
"Fool? Is that what you think of your brothers?"  
  
Number 5 punched Angel. "Never disrespect the memory of my brothers. They were honorable men.. luchadores. Mexican wrestlers. The greatest that ever lived. Together we were known as Los Hermanos Numeros."  
  
"The number brothers?" Angel noticed a shrine of flowers, pictures, and candles in the corner. "Huh." He picked up a black and white picture of the 5 brothers together, all with masks numbered 1 through 5. "Boy, you guys had no problem getting past the whole irony thing now, did you?"  
  
"It was a different time. One that no longer exists. We were great warriors in the ring, great heroes. Children worshipped us. Women loved us. Men wanted to be us. In all the years we fought, we never lost. Never quit. Never compromised. We were the best. But not all of our battles were in the ring. You need to understand. We were more than just luchadores. No one else cared about Mexicans or Chicanos, so we protected our own. The five of us were always joined, always connected. And when necessary, we came together as a fist. We fought monsters and gangsters. Vampiros. We were heroes. We protected the weak.. and we helped the helpless."  
  
"We know a little something about that." Buffy said.  
  
"We spent every waking hour together. We fought hard. We played hard. Brothers in the truest sense. Never jealous, never bickering. Those were the happiest days of my life."  
  
"Wait a second. So you guys always wore your masks?" Angel asked.  
  
"What you are failing to see, my friend, is that we had to be ever- vigilant, ready for action at a moment's notice. Surely you have heard about our great victory over the devil's robot?"  
  
Both Buffy and Angel shrugged and shook their heads. "Sorry. Nope."  
  
"Nobody remembers the good stuff."  
  
"But tell us about the Aztec warrior." Buffy said.  
  
"What can I say about a demon who killed the people that mattered most to me?"  
  
"You can start by saying how you killed it back."  
  
"I don't know. Can't remember."  
  
"Can't remember or don't care?"  
  
"Do not misunderstand me. After my brothers were killed, I tried to carry on.. tried to help people. But after a while, the phone stopped ringing. The people went away.. until one night when a man walked in. He said his company could use a young man with my abilities."  
  
"Wolfram & Hart."  
  
"I needed a job. They needed muscle. I knew that Wolfram & Hart was everything my brothers despised. But what did I care? Nothing mattered after I buried them behind San Gregorio. Every year on El Dia de Los Muertos, I prepare this altar for them. And every year, they never come, never visit. Because I am not worthy. But it does not matter anymore. Not after this year. I should have died with my brothers." Number 5 touched a small gold medallion on the table with the photos and candles.  
  
"But you didn't." Angel said. "You got stuck with the hard part, the carrying-on. No wonder your brothers' spirits never come to visit. Listen to yourself. You've quit. Tell me: Why'd you stop caring?"  
  
"It was not hard. I will show you."  
  
Buffy stared at the five midgets wearing colorful numbered masks fight in a wrestling ring against a full-sized man who chased them around the ring. "This is how my brothers are remembered, what their good deeds earned." Number 5 said. "They sacrificed their lives as heroes, and it is played out as a farce."  
  
"Maybe you expect too much from people." Angel said.  
  
"Is it too much to expect them to remember their past? To honor those that fought and died? My brothers are dead, and Tezcatcatl is back to kill again. Why did we bother? What difference did we make?"  
  
"You made a difference in the lives you saved. And you did it because.. it was the right thing to do. Nobody asks us to go out and fight, put our lives on the line. We do it because we can, cause we know how. We do it whether people remember us or not, in spite of the fact that there's no shiny reward at the end of the day.. other than the work itself. I think some part of you still knows that, still believes in being a hero." He turned to face Number 5, but he wasn't there. "Then again, maybe not."  
  
"You were talking to yourself a little there, weren'tcha?  
  
Angel shrugged. "Well.."  
  
"Come on tough guy." Buffy grabbed his hand and led him out of the arena. They looked for Number 5. A bus passed by and Number 5 was sitting in a window seat where Angel noticed him.  
  
"So much for my stirring speech."  
  
Suddenly, the demon jumped up behind Angel and attacked. Buffy shoved Angel out of the way and started to fight the demon off. It pinned her to a car by driving his sword through her. Buffy screamed and clawed at the sword. Angel grabbed the demon and yanked it away. The demon took out a dagger and reared back, aiming for Angel's heart, then reconsidered. The demon yanked its sword out of Buffy and walked away, leaving Angel to care for a wounded Buffy laying on the hood of the car. She was crying and grasping at her stomach.  
  
"Hold on sweetheart, you'll be ok." Angel said, taking off his jacket and pressing it on Buffy's wound. "Just hold on."  
  
Angel sat in a chair next to Buffy's bed. The others minus Fred were sitting in the waiting room. Buffy had been patched up and was unconscious due to the drugs. The demon had missed the vital organs by less than a centimeter. She had been lucky. It could have taken her heart. Wesley had theorized that it was taking the hearts of heroes and eating them.  
  
"Angel.." Gunn said, opening the door and walking in with Wesley.  
  
"So you think this demon is eating the hearts of heroes, huh?" Angel asked. "Well, it's an interesting theory and I can see where your research might seem to support that, but.. your theory kinda fell apart in the field."  
  
"Angel, I know you've been through a horrible ordeal, and I'm not trying to.." Wesley said.  
  
"The reason why I know this Aztec demon is not eating the hearts of heroes is.. he didn't take mine or Buffy's."  
  
"He was after hers too, but you saved her."  
  
"Am I honestly supposed to believe that it had no problem sticking a sword in my wife's stomach, come after me and then decide, 'Oh, wait, their heart's aren't heroic enough?' Ha! I don't think so."  
  
"I understand you're feeling rejected and pissed at this thing, but this Aztec warrior.. it wants the hearts for sustenance. It wants it for the meat, not the metaphor."  
  
"What are you saying?"  
  
"As meat goes, your heart's a dried-up hunk of gnarly-ass beef jerky." Gunn said.  
  
"Yeah, well, stick a piece of wood in it and I still die. Stick a sword in my wife and nearly kill her, and it still hurts. It's still terrified that Buffy could die again. Must mean something."  
  
"Can we get back to figuring out how to kill this demon rather than figuring out why it didn't kill you and Buffy?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Ok, before ol' Numero Cinco bolted on the bus, did he drop any details about how he and his brothers defeated this Aztec thing?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Wes, did you ever hear that the devil built a robot?" Angel asked.  
  
"El Diablo Robotico. Why?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Nobody ever tells me anything."  
  
"I'm gonna go check with my guys in contracts." Gunn said.  
  
"Gunn, this should take precedence." Wesley said.  
  
"It's warrior-related. I got to thinking, if this Aztec demon got back to come back after 50 years, maybe it made some kind of supernatural deal with something. And if there's a deal, might be a contract. Call me when Buffy wakes up." With that, Gunn left.  
  
"Angel, what Gunn said about your heart.. the dried-up bit.. I don't think that's the problem."  
  
"But you do see a problem?"  
  
"It's the work."  
  
"Oh, yeah. The 18-hour days, the constant slaying of evil, the hardly ever getting to spend a decent hour with my wife, and the watching her being shish-kebabed to a Chevy must be part of it."  
  
"I didn't say you weren't working. I'm just saying your heart's not in the work."  
  
"Well, yeah, you know, I've been feeling a little bit, uh.."  
  
"Disconnected. Yes, I've heard. But I think it's more serious than that. You blame your melancholy on your new position, but I don't think it's about the type of work. I think it's because you've lost hope that the work has meaning."  
  
"Of course it has meaning. We save people's lives."  
  
"I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about you. It's lost meaning for you. Spike says you no longer believe in the Shanshu prophecy."  
  
"Of course not. The prophecies are nonsense. You know that. Oh, come on, Wes, after everything we've seen the past couple of years? 'The father will kill the son.'"  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Look, we're getting the work done. As long as Buffy and I keep doing what we do, doesn't matter if I believe in the Shanshu or any other prophecy."  
  
"I'm sorry, Angel, but nothing matters more. Hope: It's the only thing that will sustain you, that will keep you from ending up like Number 5."  
  
Angel's cell phone rang. He listened for a second then hung up. "Yeah. That was Fred. She's got something. She's on her way now."  
  
Fred walked into Buffy's room twenty minutes later. Willow, Spike, Wesley, Dawn, and Angel were all crowded in the large room. Wolfram and Hart did have its perks when it came to getting the best doctors and the biggest rooms. Despite the doctor's warnings and Angel's worry, Buffy had sat up in the bed. She had let Angel move the back up so she could rest on it, but she wasn't supposed to sit up.  
  
"Hey Buffy." Fred said.  
  
"Hi." Buffy said, giving her a weak smile.  
  
"You need to stop getting stabbed in the stomach. I don't think three times in less than nine months is very healthy."  
  
"Yeah, leave the getting stabbed in the stomach to me." Angel said. "I can handle it better."  
  
"So, Angel says that the demon wanted to eat our hearts cause we're heroes and their blood is what keeps it alive. What's up with that?"  
  
"Yeah, but it does more than that. It acts like a kind of supercharged rocket fuel. Makes it, you know.."  
  
"Nigh invulnerable." Wesley said.  
  
"Oh, I could kill it." Spike said. "I mean, ghostiness to the contrary. Well, come on, lads. Everything has an Achilles heel."  
  
"And you just so happen to know this creature's Achilles heel?" Angel asked.  
  
"Well, I wager it's the heart."  
  
Fred looked at her papers. "You see that in the science?"  
  
"No, luv, in the poetry. We're dealing with a mythic creature here, a kill- or-be-killed kind of creature. If I was gonna kill something that was trying to take my heart, I'd try to bloody well take its heart first."  
  
"And you'd be doing the right thing. That'd stop it for the time being." Gunn said, walking in.  
  
"Time being?" Willow asked.  
  
"Yeah. He's kinda got a get-out-of-jail-free card. It's in his contract."  
  
"Contract?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Figure of speech. Curse, hex, any shady supernatural deal.. Wolfram & Hart has a record of it. Tezcatcatl was one of the Aztecs' most powerful warriors. He forged a mystical talisman that would harness the power of their sun God, make him supernova powerful. But he got found out, was sentenced to die on the Aztec version of day of the dead."  
  
"So he made a mystical deal." Wesley said.  
  
"Yeah, it was pretty clever, really. He had their shaman put a curse on him to return from the dead every 50 years. Been doing it for centuries. Usually, that'd be a bad thing, but, in his case, it brings him back so he can keep searching for the talisman."  
  
"Any idea what happened to the talisman?" Fred asked.  
  
"It was given to a great hero in charge of protecting it."  
  
"Which gets passed down through the generations so each time this demon returns, it's searching for that talisman." Angel said.  
  
"And if it finds it, the demon becomes sun-God powerful, and you sods become a series of hearty snacks." Spike said.  
  
"Is there a drawing of it?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Negative. All I know is that it's gold, about the size of a quarter, and has the sun and some other spooky mumbo-jumbo carved into it."  
  
Buffy looked at Angel and then back at the others. He knew exactly where it was, but he didn't want to leave Buffy's side. "Go." Angel ran out of the room.  
  
"Oh, see! Drama queen." Spike said.  
  
An hour later, Angel called and said that he was headed to the cemetery where Number Five's brothers were buried. He figured that Number Five would be there. Buffy looked at Willow. "Will, it's time to raise the dead again."  
  
"I don't have the urn of Osiris." Willow said. "It got crushed when we brought you back."  
  
"No.. I meant bring them back temporarily so they can help Number Five and Angel out."  
  
"Oh. I can do that. I just need to grab some stuff from Wesley's office."  
  
"I know where they are." Dawn said. "I'll go with you."  
  
"How do you.." Wesley asked.  
  
"I roam." Dawn and Willow ran out.  
  
Willow took Dawn's VW Beatle and punched it to the graveyard. They ran up just in time to see Number Five get stabbed and fall on top of his brothers' graves. "Angel!" Dawn yelled.  
  
"Dawn? What are you doing here?" Angel called back, not turning away from the demon.  
  
"Willow and I are here to help. Just hold on." Dawn help Willow set up.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"We're bringing in some help from beyond." Willow said. Suddenly her eyes went black and she opened her arms. "Alcoolici da di là, denomino il thee avanti. Aumenti dalle tombe thy ed avenge le morti thy!"  
  
"Willow, what the hell are you doing?" Angel dodged a blow to the head and looked over to see hands reach out of the graves. One by one, the Number Brothers climbed out of their graves. Number 1 wore his gold mask, Number 2 wore his green mask, Number 3 wore his silver mask, and Number 4 wore his red mask. The brothers popped their necks and rotated their shoulders, realigning their bodies after years in the grave.  
  
"Mis hermanos." Number Five said.  
  
The other four brothers clapped their hands. "!Andale!" They did acrobatics as they made their way to the little iron fence, and they each took a rod from it as they headed to fight the demon. Angel watched them all go past. Number 4 stopped and looked at Angel. "Amigo.. andale." Then he went toward the demon, iron rod in hand.  
  
Angel picked up an iron rod from the ground. The Number Brothers fought the demon, and Angel joined in with a punch here and there. The brothers worked together to form a step for one to spring from toward the demon. Reminiscent of their wrestling moves, the jumper landed on the neck of the demon. "We're trying to kill it, not pin it." Angel said. The jumper back- flipped so forcefully that he propelled the demon into the air as well, landing him face-down in the dirt. The brothers turned him over, face-up, and pinned him at each hand and foot. "Ok. Pinning works." Angel drove the iron rod through the demon's heart, causing it to growl and die, turning to dust. He looked toward the headstone, seeing Number 5. "Hey."  
  
"Mis hermanos, they came back." Number Five said.  
  
"Because you're worthy. You proved it."  
  
"Maybe. But still the demon did not want my heart."  
  
"He didn't want mine, either."  
  
"Of course not, amigo. Who would want that dried-up walnut of a dead thing?" Number Five coughed. "C-coffee.."  
  
"Coffee? You want coffee?"  
  
"!Estupido! The talisman. It's in.." Angel dumped the coffee out of the thermos and found the talisman inside. "I may not be a hero, but I am not a fool."  
  
Number 5 passed away. His brothers picked him up and carried him away as Angel watched until they were gone. He looked over at Willow. "You're getting better."  
  
"Eh. I do what I can." Willow said.  
  
Back at the penthouse, Buffy was sitting on the couch. The doctors had released her even though they were completely against it. Angel had promised to come up when he was done talking with the others. Getting tired of waiting, she snuck out and went down to the office. As she passed Wesley's office, she noticed movement in the darkness. She walked quietly up to the door and looked in. Angel had picked up the prophecy book and sat down on the edge of a chair.  
  
"Shansu prophecy, English translation." Angel whispered. He opened the book and began reading.  
  
Buffy closed her eyes and leaned her head against the door. He was finally believing again. The Slayer had never stopped believing in that prophecy. From the moment she'd found out, she'd always known in her heart that Angel would fulfill his destiny and become human. He always felt that he didn't deserve it, but Buffy was smarter than that. She knew he deserved it. Sighing to herself, she turned and headed back up to the penthouse, remembering the sound of Angel's heartbeat. When Angel came in and crawled into bed, she scooted back into his embrace and dreamed that one day she would hear his heartbeat again. 


	14. Lineage p1

Chapter 14  
  
Buffy followed Angel down an alley and towards a warehouse. Fred had said Wesley had gone there on a sting with a band of demons. The two Wolfram and Hart CEOs had nothing better to do at the moment, so they headed on over to see if Wesley could use some help. Angel looked back at Buffy and saw her trying to stifle a yawn.  
  
"You know, you've logged more hours than I have." He said, stopping.  
  
"I've noticed." Buffy shot back.  
  
"You need rest. You're only human."  
  
"I wish."  
  
"Sweetheart, you've barely slept since Willow went back to Europe. You've been working around the clock with short naps during meetings. The other day, Spike said he walked in on you in your weapons room and you were asleep standing up."  
  
"Ok, I've been keeping busy. I get that. But it's nothing to worry about. I'm just trying to get caught up from the two weeks I was forced out of commission due to being ran through with a sword." Buffy started walking again. "I don't have much left to do. I'll rest when I'm finished."  
  
"You know, you could've slept instead of coming with me to help Wesley out."  
  
"Between work and being a Slayer, I've barely had any time with you. I want to spend time with my husband, is that so wrong?"  
  
"No. But I'd just feel better if you would take a day off at the very least and rest."  
  
"I told you I will, just not today. Get off my back about it, ok? I'm not a little girl. I can take care of myself. I'm an orphan, remember? Orphans know how to take care of themselves."  
  
"You're not an orphan."  
  
"Well, let's see Angel, my mom's dead and my dad disowned me because he couldn't handle what I really was. I think that qualifies as being an orphan." She sighed. "Oh, and we can't forget the little sister I have to finish raising."  
  
"We."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
Angel grabbed Buffy's upper arms and hauled her to a stop. "Are you ok?"  
  
"Been better."  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"I'm cranky today."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"I don't know really. I guess it's mainly the stress of running a multi- dimensional company, being married, raising a teenager, being a Slayer, and playing babysitter to the ghost since I'm the only one nice enough to do it."  
  
"Is Spike finally starting to get on your nerves? I coulda told you that he would. I lived with him for more than a lifetime."  
  
"It's not Spike."  
  
"Then what is it, really?"  
  
"I just told you!"  
  
"Honestly, I don't think any of that's what's bothering you."  
  
"Then tell me, oh mighty seer of all things, what do you think is wrong with me?"  
  
Suddenly, gun fire caught their attention. They both looked over to discover that they were at the warehouse where Wesley's sting was going down. In a flash, they dove through a window and rolled to their feet. Angel came face to face with a ninja. They traded quick blows and then Buffy snuck up behind him and snapped his neck. Electricity surged around the break. Angel pulled the black knit full-face mask off of the man to discover he didn't have a face at all, only a ridged metal plate where his face should've been. Angel stared at him, confused. Wesley joined them. From behind them, Dawn moaned softly.  
  
"Dawn!" Wesley said.  
  
"Dawn!?" Buffy asked. Wesley went to Dawn's side to discover that she'd been hit through the shoulder. Wesley pressed a handkerchief to her wound and stared past her into space. "Move!" Buffy grabbed Wesley's collar and threw him away. "God, Dawnie. Please be ok." Angel picked her up in his arms and they ran out.  
  
Wesley was standing in front of Buffy and Angel's desk, staring solemnly into the distance. "She could have been killed." Buffy said, trying to contain her anger.  
  
"Medical's optimistic. She should be up and about soon enough." Eve said.  
  
"That's not the point." Angel said.  
  
"What the hell was my teenage sister doing there in the first place?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I needed someone who could explain the weapon convincingly. She's rather brilliant.." Wesley tried.  
  
"Nobody else here knows how to explain a gun?"  
  
"I needed someone who wouldn't arouse Emil's suspicion. Someone I could trust. Fred was busy."  
  
"And so conveniently, the only person who could go with you was Dawn. Did I mention that she's my YOUNGER teenage sister?"  
  
"She shouldn't have been there. It was a reckless decision." Angel said.  
  
"Dawn has more than proven herself in the field. There was no reason to think.." Wesley said.  
  
"We found her bleeding to death on the ground." Buffy yelled. "From now on, you clear it with me AND Angel before using any of our people."  
  
"Your people?"  
  
"Got it?"  
  
Wesley turned and left. "Kinda hard on him, weren't you?" Eve asked.  
  
"She could have.."  
  
"Been killed. So you said."  
  
"Did you also notice the part where that's my younger sister?"  
  
"I think you guys are making too big a deal about this. And from what I understand, her wound wasn't all that severe."  
  
"You weren't there. You didn't see her." Angel said.  
  
"But she's ok. And you're both still beating him up."  
  
"He can be careless."  
  
"Focuses too much on the big picture? Overlooks the people involved?"  
  
"Something like that."  
  
"Willing to risk anything.. or anyone.. for the greater good." Buffy and Angel looked sharply at Eve. "Look, hey.. I'm just asking. Could it be there's another reason you're getting so mad at him about this? Mmm.. stealing your son, for instance?"  
  
"We don't talk about our son."  
  
"You guys don't trust Wesley, do you? I mean, I can see that. He did turn Connor over to your sworn enemy."  
  
"He didn't mean for that to happen. He thought he was doing the right thing." Buffy said.  
  
"And I guess it all worked out. Connor's ok, you're happy.. Maybe Wesley knew what he was doing after all. Even if he doesn't remember any of it."  
  
"That's got nothing to do with.." Buffy sighed. "We just want to be kept informed. That's all."  
  
"Is it? Or are you guys worried about the next time Wesley betrays you trying to do 'the right thing'?"  
  
"This discussion is over. Time for you to leave." Eve nodded and walked out. Buffy stood in front of the large window, staring out at the city.  
  
Angel walked over and put his hands on her shoulders. "Hey."  
  
"She could've died."  
  
"I know."  
  
"I'm not just pissed at Wesley, but I'm pissed at Dawn too. Is that normal?"  
  
"She lied to us. She told us that she was going to stay at a friend's house. I'm pissed at her too."  
  
"She's grounded, that's for sure."  
  
"I'm with you." Angel wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his chin on top of her head. "But you know what?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"She's growing up. We can't control her forever."  
  
"And that's what scares me the most. She's going to go off to college soon and start a whole new life. I mean, it's her senior year. We don't have much longer to take care of her."  
  
The next day, Buffy and Angel were standing over the opened corpse of the cyborg while Fred explained what she and Dawn had found. "We found cybernetics throughout the body, in most cases replacing entire organic systems."  
  
"Was it human?" Buffy asked.  
  
"We think so." Dawn said.  
  
"The nervous system seems human at least, but the rest of the technology is so foreign to us." Fred picked up. "We can't be sure of anything right now. This thing really blurs the line between human and robot."  
  
"Aha!" Spike said, playing with a glass beaker. "So you're not ruling out that a human being could've boffed a robot." They all stared at him. "Sex with robots is more common than most people think."  
  
"Spike, can we please not bring that up?" Buffy asked.  
  
"What?" He shot back innocently.  
  
"It's gross and really disturbing. I still can't believe you made a sexbot that looked like.." Buffy noticed the faces of everyone. "No one I know." Dawn giggled. "Shut up Dawn."  
  
"Um, the cybernetics require central processing to function, which means if we can crack its memory, we may find a record of everything it's done till this point." Fred said.  
  
"And maybe figure out who or what it wanted." Angel said.  
  
Spike knocked the beaker off the shelf. "Hey! Did you.." He held up his hands. "Sorry."  
  
"Um, so far, we haven't had much luck decoding the encryption." Dawn said.  
  
"It seems to be a binary-based system, so we'll get there eventually. We just have to find the right transform variable." Knox said.  
  
"Ok, we need you on this till we get some answers." Angel said.  
  
"You got it." Dawn said.  
  
"Let us know if you need more resources." Eve said.  
  
Wesley and an older man walked into the lab. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my father, Roger Wyndam-Price."  
  
"Hello." Roger said.  
  
"Daddy, eh? I always thought Wesley was grown in some sort of greenhouse for dandies." Spike said.  
  
"Spike."  
  
"You've heard of me?"  
  
"No. We've met. 1963. My colleagues and I fell upon you slaughtering an orphanage in Vienna. Killed 2 of my men before you escaped."  
  
"Oh.. how've you been?"  
  
"I didn't know your father was coming to visit, Wesley." Angel said. He held out his hand. "I'm Angel. This is my wife Buffy. Pleasure to meet you."  
  
"Do you really expect me to shake that?" Roger stared at Angel's hand.  
  
"I'm not real comfortable with hugging. No. I realize this may be somewhat of a horror show to you. But I hope you can keep an open mind. We really are doing good work here."  
  
"So I'm told. Incessantly, in fact." Roger looked at Buffy. "Miss Summers."  
  
"It's missus." Buffy shot back.  
  
"Yes, of course. You married this vampire and went against everything that a Slayer is."  
  
"What of it?"  
  
Wesley noticed the tension between Slayer and Watcher. "I heard we could be of some use."  
  
"Of course. Um, we were just going over the autopsy." Fred said.  
  
"Fred, keep us posted." Buffy said. She walked out. Angel looked around and then followed her out.  
  
A little while later, Buffy was headed back to her and Angel's office when Lorne and Wesley's father rounded a corner with Fred. She tried not to acknowledge Roger, but it was hard when he called, "Miss Summers."  
  
She stopped and turned. "I told you, it's.."  
  
"Missus. Yes, but it's hard to concede the fact that you married an abomination."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Hey, hey, hey.." Lorne said. "I have another joke to tell."  
  
"I do believe you heard me. You are an affront to everything a Slayer is. You were not only a disgrace to the Council and the Slayer name, but you are also an influence to the disgrace that became Mr. Giles and my son."  
  
"How dare you? Who the hell do you think you are?"  
  
"I have every right to give the facts to you straight. When the Council is reformed, you will play no part in it."  
  
"The Council's reforming?"  
  
"And neither you nor Mr. Giles are being considered for readmittance."  
  
"And what makes you think either of us would consider it?" Angel walked around a corner. "You know, you have a lot of nerve to come onto MY turf and insult not only me, my husband, and your own son, but then you insult Giles. This is unbelievable. I am the single best Slayer that damn Council has ever had and you know it. You can't just come in here and assume that you're better than everybody here. Newsflash: You're not. I didn't see you fighting the wars that I did. And furthermore, your son was right there in the thick of it alongside Angel and myself. You wanna call us abominations, go right on ahead, but just remember that while you sat on your ass in England drinking tea with the Queen Mum, WE were the ones out there keeping the world safe from the real abominations." Buffy turned sharply on her heel and stormed off.  
  
Ten minutes later, Fred, Wesley, and Dawn were sitting in front of Buffy and Angel's desk. Spike stood off to the side watching. "What happened?" Angel asked, sitting behind the desk with a seething Buffy at his side.  
  
Spike stepped forward. "I can explain. Apparently, when Percy here was younger, he used to be known as head boy."  
  
"Yeah. We already knew that."  
  
"Right. I have nothing else to report." He walked away.  
  
"I accidentally tripped the cyborg's self-destruct mechanism." Wesley said.  
  
"Anyone could have made the mistake. Wesley was just trying to interpret some symbols for us." Fred said.  
  
"Luckily, my father was there to correct my error."  
  
"Right. Your father." Buffy said scronfully. "Where is he, anyway?"  
  
"Well, Lorne's keeping him entertained." Dawn said. She thought a second. "Come to think of it, that's probably not the best idea. Fred and I'll go rescue him." With that, the two left.  
  
"I'm finished here, too." Spike said. "If you want, I can have someone type up the report about head boy."  
  
"Get out." Angel said.  
  
"Suit yourself." Spike left.  
  
"It was a stupid mistake." Wesley said.  
  
"Yeah, well, your father's visit just rattled you." Angel said.  
  
"I find it hard to think straight when he's around."  
  
"Fathers and sons. That can be torture sometimes."  
  
"Also, fathers and daughters." Buffy said with a sigh. "Look, you should see this. Came from your department. Reports of assassins that sound a lot like our cyborg." She handed Wesley a file.  
  
He read through it. "Hmm. Group of them took out a demon cabal in Jakarta. Another group destroyed the Tanmar Death Chamber. Sounds like they're doing our work for us."  
  
"These are good guys?"  
  
"I don't know. I should reference this with the markings we found, find some clues as to their origin."  
  
"Get on it. If these guys are on our side, then somebody should tell them before they start trying to kill us again." 


	15. Lineage p2

Chapter 15  
  
"I heard you're little speech to Wesley's father." Angel said as he watched Buffy pace in front of the windows.  
  
"I know." Buffy said.  
  
"You ok?"  
  
"I don't know who he thinks he is. He acts like his shit doesn't stink and ours is nuclear waste." Angel chuckled. "This isn't funny Angel. He's treating both of us like pawn scum and there's no words for how he treats Wesley."  
  
"I know. But there's really not much we can do."  
  
"We could do us all a favor and kill him. Wouldn't be able to trace it back to us."  
  
"I think it would make us both feel incredibly guilty and we'd never be able to look Wesley in the eyes again."  
  
"Then we could move away, some where far, far away, and change our names and just live out our lives. Granted yours would be way, way longer than mine."  
  
Angel smiled. "I love you."  
  
Suddenly, the alarms blared throughout the building. Buffy and Angel ran out of their office to investigate, as did Gunn. "What's happening?" Buffy asked.  
  
"We've lost power, communications." Gunn said.  
  
"All right, can somebody please shut off the.." The alarm stopped. "That's better." Angel said.  
  
"Not sure it is. I think that means we lost security, too."  
  
Spike walked out of the elevator through the door. "Uh, something's wrong with the elevator."  
  
"Get security online. We need to know if this is a false alarm." Buffy said.  
  
The cyborgs came into the lobby, punching out one of the men. More cyborgs jumped down behind Buffy, Angel, and Gunn. "I'm thinking it's not a false alarm." Gunn said.  
  
"Great. I'm not wearing my fighting boots." Buffy looked down at he pointed-toe, stiletto boots just as the wave of cyborgs attacked.  
  
Buffy and Angel engaged the cyborgs. Gunn knocked one out, but another engaged him in a fight. The cyborg punched Gunn in the stomach, then threw his chain around Gunn's neck, slinging him into the stairs. Angel saw Gunn being beaten, but had his own cyborg to fight off before he could go to his aid. Buffy backflipped away from two cyborgs and then jumped up, kicking both of them in their chins. Another grabbed her from behind and threw her up and over the second story railing. She stood back up, shaking off the bruises and the pain, and jumped off the railing. She launched herself at the three cyborgs and tackled them to the groun.  
  
Angel's cyborg kicked him across the room. Gunn's cyborg had taken control of the fight, wrapping its chain around Gunn's neck and choking him. Spike was walking around the lobby and noticed Gunn's situation. "Gunn!"  
  
"Spike.. what are you.." Gunn choked.  
  
Spike was standing in front of Gunn, holding his fist out, ready to punch, but also holding his other hand up in a stop motion while he thought. "Sorry. I have to concentrate." Gunn choked more. "Shh. Don't talk." Spike finally threw his punch, connecting with the cyborg's head and knocking it back so that it loosened its grip on Gunn's neck. Spike smiled at his accomplishment, but Gunn just stared at him.  
  
The cyborg hit Angel, knocking him down. Wesley's father knocked the cyborg in the head with a chair, knocking it away from Angel. Roger offered his hand to Angel to help him stand. "Thanks." Angel said.  
  
"Buffy, Angel, Wesley's on the roof. He needs your help." Dawn said, standing with Fred.  
  
"Hey, Gunn, go find out what's happening with security. Dawn and Fred, there are people down. Go see who's injured." Buffy said.  
  
"We'll go find Wes." Angel added.  
  
"I'm coming with you." Roger said.  
  
"Look, we don't have time.." Buffy started.  
  
"He's my son."  
  
"Oh, uh, Eve's stuck in the elevator." Spike called.  
  
"So tell maintenance." Buffy shot back, running off. She and Angel ran out onto the roof, followed by Wesley's father.  
  
"Wesley! Wes! Where's Wesley?" Angel asked. No one was on the roof but them.  
  
"Well, that's just the thing. I'm sorry to have misled you, but this was never about Wesley." Roger tasered Buffy and she fell to the ground, unconscious. He held out a wand Angel recognized from Wesley's vault. "Atistrata." Angel collapsed, clutching his stomach and grunting. "It is, by the way, a pleasure to meet you, too." A white smoke flowed out of Angel's body and into the wand, making the tip glow white. "Don't fight it. It'll be easier for you." Roger spoke into an earpiece. "Ready for extraction. We're finished."  
  
Wesley took the staff out of his father's hands. "Not quite." He held a gun pointed at his father. "Hello, father."  
  
"Walk away from this, Wesley. You'll never understand what we're trying to do here."  
  
Buffy groaned and looked around as Wesley said, "You're using the Staff of Devosynn to take Angel's will, make him your slave. Your cyborgs panic a bit too easily."  
  
"That creature is more dangerous to mankind than you realize."  
  
"You're wrong about him. He's not what you think."  
  
"He's a puppet. He always has been. To the Powers That Be, to Wolfram & Hart. Now he's ours."  
  
"You went to a lot of trouble to get this staff. You had us attacked, you smuggled in a weapon.. You brought in an army so you could escape. I don't know why you're doing all this, but did you ever once consider there might be another way? Did you ever once consider talking to me about it?"  
  
"No. You've failed me enough for one lifetime."  
  
Buffy crawled over to Angel and laid his head in her lap. She stroked his face as she watched Wesley and his father interact. Fred ran out onto the roof. "Wesley!"  
  
"Fred.. get out of here!" Wesley said.  
  
Fred ran over to Buffy and Angel. She held Buffy steady. "What the hell is going on?"  
  
"You know what that vampire is and what he's done, and you follow him anyway?"  
  
"Maybe I know what I'm doing. Why can't you trust that?"  
  
"You disgrace yourself with the Council, you join forces with him and that Slayer, and you have the nerve to ask me why I can't trust you?"  
  
"I've done everything you ever asked, and I've done it well."  
  
"I asked for this, hmm? I wanted to be humiliated?"  
  
"No, I suppose I don't know what you really wanted." Wesley walked toward his father, still pointing a gun at him. "You never had any use for me as a child, and you can't bear the thought of me as an adult. Tell me, father, what is it that galls you so, that I was never as good at the job as you.. or that I just might be better?"  
  
"Oh, yes, this is Los Angeles. We have to talk about our feelings. Then maybe we'll hug."  
  
"It's doubtful."  
  
"Hand me that staff."  
  
"No."  
  
"Now, don't make me shoot you."  
  
Wesley walked back to the edge of the roof. "Go ahead."  
  
"Do you know how powerful that thing is?"  
  
"I don't care."  
  
"I will kill you for it. Please believe me." A helicopter was hovering over the roof, shining bright white lights on it.  
  
"Oh, I believe you. I was raised by you, after all." Wesley held the staff over the edge of the roof. "But I drop this, the crystal shatters, and Angel is restored. So I reckon whether I live or die, your plan has failed."  
  
"I see. Well, then.. maybe if it's someone you care about.." Roger grabbed Fred, pointing a gun at her head.  
  
"Fred!" Buffy yelped, grabbing for her.  
  
When his father grabbed Fred, Wesley pointed the gun at his father and shot it without another moment of consideration. Buffy ducked and covered Angel as Wesley shot his father in the chest until his clip is empty.. 9 times. Wesley's father fell to the ground, and the helicopter departed. Wesley walked up to his father's fallen body and stared, upset. Fred looked at him, then at Angel. Wesley stumbled away, dropping his gun as he went and bent over behind a roof vent to vomit. Fred looked after him, concerned. When Wesley stood, he heard the buzzing of electronics behind him. He turned to look and saw his father's body fade into the body of a cyborg, shimmering with electricity. Wesley stared at it in disbelief. Buffy grabbed the wand and smashed it. Angel gasped and groaned. Buffy held onto him as she stared at Wesley and the cyborg.  
  
Wesley walked into Angel's office to find him sitting on the couch, holding his stomach. Buffy gently dabbed a cold, wet rag on his forehead, sitting protectively next to her husband. "How are you guys doing?"  
  
"My neck stings a little, but I'll live." Buffy said, smiling slightly.  
  
"You know that worst part about losing your free will?" Angel asked.  
  
"Having no control over your body?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Well, there's that and.. you get really nauseous."  
  
"The effect should wear off before too long."  
  
"Any idea where these things came from? What they were trying to do with my husband?" Buffy asked. Wesley shook his head. "Great. Like we don't have enough to worry about. Now the good guys may be after us, too."  
  
"We have to assume we crossed some powerful forces when we took over this company."  
  
"They're all trying to bring us down. The perception is that we're weak." Angel said.  
  
"No. The perception is I'm weak. That's why they went for me."  
  
"They're wrong. You do what you have to do to protect the people around you. To do what you know is right, regardless of the cost. You know, I never really understood that. You're the guy who makes all the hard decisions, even if you have to make em alone."  
  
"Right now I feel like the guy who shot his own father."  
  
"Well, it was just a robot with a fancy glamour." Buffy said.  
  
"That thing knew everything about me."  
  
"You know, if they had access to the Watchers Council's old files, they'd have your background information, character assessments.."  
  
"Psychological profiles. Everything they'd need."  
  
"Well, like I said.. don't beat yourself up." Angel said. "Oh.. you know.. I killed my actual dad. It was one of the first things I did when I became a vampire."  
  
"I hardly see how that's the same situation."  
  
"Yeah. I didn't really think that one through."  
  
"You should get some rest." Buffy said to Wesley.  
  
"So should you." Wesley said. He got up and left.  
  
"Which one of us was he talking to?"  
  
"I think both of us." Angel said.  
  
"Well, I don't know about you, but I could curl up right here and sleep for the next ten years."  
  
"Ditto."  
  
Buffy smiled and leaned over to kiss Angel. Just before his lips met hers, she pulled back. "Do you really think the Council's regrouping?"  
  
"Buffy, shut up." Angel pulled her to his lips and kissed her deeply. 


	16. Destiny p1

Chapter 16  
  
Buffy walked through the lobby and headed for her and Angel's office. Angel and Spike were walking down the stairs arguing once again. Harmony handed Buffy her mail as she walked by and Angel fell into step with her. Spike moved in front of her and she stopped. "No, Spike."  
  
"You haven't even heard what I was gonna ask." Spike protested.  
  
"I don't need to. The answer's no."  
  
"Buffy!"  
  
She shook her head and kept walking right through him. "Don't whine. You sound like you're four years old."  
  
"Can't a ghost get any respect around here?"  
  
"Again, no."  
  
"Job well done, eh? At least give me Wesley's office. I mean, since he's gone."  
  
"He's not gone. He's on a leave of absence." Angel said, shutting the door behind him and Buffy. Buffy dropped her mail on the chair and turned around to be scooped up into Angel's arms. He kissed her fiercely and she ran a hand through his thick, dark hair.  
  
"Sorry I didn't come home last night." She said.  
  
"Where were you?" He mumbled into her neck, nipping slightly.  
  
"I was negotiating the terms of turning over.. Eeep!" She giggled as he blew a breath into her ear. "Turning over a shipment of katanas to a band of Barkuk demons. They only come out at a certain time and I was preparing all night for it."  
  
"Isn't that a little dangerous: turning over the katanas?"  
  
Buffy sat on the edge of the desk, Angel between her legs. "No. They're peaceful demons. The leader is a friend of Giles'."  
  
Angel laughed as Buffy ran her fingers lightly over the small of his back. It was the only spot he was really ticklish in and Buffy was the only one who knew that. Suddenly, there was a thud on the door. Buffy's hands stopped and Angel's lips parted from hers. They looked over, expecting one of their friends to walk in. When no one did, Angel walked over to the door and opened it. After he stood there for a second, not moving, Buffy got curious and walked over. Spike lay sprawled on the floor, his nose bleeding from where he'd crashed into it. All around the office, phones were ringing off the hook.  
  
"Hey. I'm.." Spike touched his chest. "I can feel." He started to touch Angel's chest.  
  
"Hey. Stop touching me." Spike went to touch Buffy, but Angel jumped in front of her. "Watch it Spike."  
  
Spike licked his lip to discover his nose had bled a bit from his run-in with the door. "Mmm! I can.." He grabbed a mug from Harmony's hand.  
  
"Hey, that was supposed to be mine."  
  
"Mmm! Mmm! Mmm! Oh, God. It's bloody ambrosia. Is this otter?"  
  
"Hey, what's going.." Gunn asked, walking up.  
  
Spike hugged Gunn. "I'm back, Charlie boy! That's what's going!"  
  
"He's corporeal. When did this.. I mean, how?"  
  
"We don't know. He just.." Buffy shrugged.  
  
"I got it. It must've been that box of flash I got in the mail." Spike said.  
  
"You got.. from who?"  
  
"Don't know, don't care. But if you see him, give him a bloody kiss on the mouth for me."  
  
"Harmony, what is going on with the phones?" Angel asked.  
  
"Nobody knows. It's, like, all over the office. And all there is, is eee! on the other end. Plus, now my computer's freaking."  
  
"Harm." Spike grabbed Harmony passionately and kissed her.  
  
"Get off." She pushed Spike away, disgusted. "Ew."  
  
"That's the idea." Spike looked at Buffy and Angel. "I need to borrow your Gal Friday for a bit."  
  
"Permission denied." Angel said.  
  
"I wasn't asking." Spike grabbed Harmony by the wrist and started walking away.  
  
"My God!" Harmony wrenched her wrist away from him. "Oh, my God. What? You think just 'cause you're all.. solid now, that I'm gonna go.."  
  
"That's a very pretty skirt you're wearing."  
  
Harmony tried to maintain her anger with Spike, but he kept giving her that sexy look and she melted, no longer able to suppress a smile at the thought. "Taking a long lunch, bosses." Spike took Harmony by the hand, leading her down the hallway.  
  
***  
  
Twenty minutes later, Buffy shook her head and looked at Angel as they walked through the lobby. "What the hell is going on here?"  
  
"I don't know." Angel said, looking around the lobby. He grabbed one of the office personnel. "Kill 'em. All of 'em. The phones, the computers, shut 'em down. Find out if we got some kind of bug in the system and who put it there."  
  
"Figure we're under some kind of attack again?" Gunn asked.  
  
"We don't know what to figure yet."  
  
Fred and Dawn ran down the stairs. "Angel?"  
  
"Oh, let me guess. The lab computers are on the fritz."  
  
"Well, yeah, but that's just the tip of the fritzberg." Dawn said.  
  
"The needles on our atmospheric gauges suddenly started spiking into red. Totally blew out the instruments." Fred said.  
  
"Sounds like some kind of electrical surge, like what's affecting our phones and everything." Buffy said. They walked into her and Angel's office.  
  
"Well, yeah. That's what we thought at first, but we think it might be something else."  
  
"Never simple, is it?" Angel picked up his mug. "He drank all my blood. Harmony!"  
  
"She's off having a nooner with Blondie Bear, remember?" Gunn said.  
  
"She's what?" Dawn asked.  
  
"You know, nooner. When you have sex in the middle of.."  
  
"Enough said Gunn." Buffy said.  
  
"You said she's with Spike?" Fred asked.  
  
"Uh, yeah. He's corporeal again."  
  
"Corporeal?" Dawn asked. "As in he can be touched and touch back corporeal?"  
  
"Yeah. He got something in the mail. Flash, bam, boom.. he's a solid citizen again." Gunn said.  
  
"Oh, my God why didn't you call me?" Fred asked.  
  
"I'm sorry." Angel said. "We just, you know, we've had our hands full dealing with the glitch in the office system.. which just so happens to coincide with Spike being back, and I can't believe I'm just getting that."  
  
"You've always been a little slow." Buffy retorted.  
  
"You think whatever recorporealized Spike's doing a number on the building?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Well, obviously they're connected." Fred said. "Maybe when Spike's matter was reintegrated into physical form, it had some sort of ripple effect on the immediate environment. Or, if those gauge readings are correct, it could be the start of something bigger, like.."  
  
"The entire universe thrown into catastrophic turmoil?" Eve said from the doorway. They all turned. "Cause that's what's happening, kids."  
  
"So you know what's going on?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Only what I'm told. Corporate seers alerted me to the situation."  
  
"Which is?"  
  
"It's a harbinger."  
  
"Harbinger? As in Bringer? As in those creepy guys with no eyes and big pointy knives? I thought we got rid of those."  
  
"Not Bringers. A harbinger. Upshot is we've got trouble with a capital T, and that rhymes with P, and that stands for prophecy. Shanshu. Maybe you've heard of it?"  
  
"Oh, God. That again." Angel said. "Yeah, I'm familiar. So?"  
  
"So it talks about a champion. A vampire with a soul who'll play a pivotal role in the apocalypse. For good or evil. Anybody's guess. That part's hazy."  
  
"I thought the Shanshu had to do with Angel becoming human again after.." Dawn started.  
  
"That's just the epilogue, princess. And, for the record, the prophecy doesn't call Angel by name."  
  
"Hold on. You're saying because Spike's back, you think he's.." Buffy asked.  
  
"I don't think anything. All I can tell you is his very existence is disrupting the order of things."  
  
"No argument here." Angel said.  
  
"This doesn't add up. There were already 2 souled vampires in the universe before Spike fried. Why is this happening now?" Buffy asked.  
  
"The keyword here is champion." Eve said. "Spike gave his life to save the world. That gives him the cred. But when he died and became a ghost, case closed. Now that he's back, all bets are off, kids."  
  
Gunn walked toward the door. "Where are you going?" Angel asked.  
  
"To check on something." Gunn left.  
  
"You knew this would happen." Fred said to Eve. "All that time I was working on recorporealizing Spike, you never mentioned.."  
  
"Hey, would've said something if I'd known, sweetie." Eve said. "My universe, too, you know. How'd you pull it off, by the way, bringing Spike back? You guys.. did do it, right?"  
  
"Something came in the mail for him." Angel said.  
  
"The mail? Like the amulet."  
  
"Yeah. Never did find out who sent it."  
  
"The senior partners, maybe?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Watch the accusatory stares, kids. I only know.."  
  
"What you're told. Right. So, the seers told you the phones and all were a harbinger. Of what?"  
  
"Something worse. And seriously dangerous."  
  
"What do you mean, dangerous?" Angel asked.  
  
There was a knock on the door and one of the security guards walked in. "Um.. Mr. and Mrs. Angel? I think you guys might like to see this."  
  
***  
  
Medics pulled a sheet over the body of the man Jerry killed with a fire extinguisher. Jerry was wheeled away on a stretcher, tied down with restraints. "Self-centered jerks!" He laughed maniacally, thrashing. "A little thing called being considerate!" A medic gave him a tranquilizer shot. "Replace.." He passed out.  
  
Buffy, Angel, and Eve were talking to Lorne, who was sitting on a box of papers near the copier, holding a handkerchief to his forehead. Written in blood on the wall above the copier was the word TONER.  
  
"Yeah, well, then I see Mr. Considerate here, covered in blood, making mashed potatoes out of this fella. And before I could get to, 'What's wrong with this picture?' he clocks me right in the coconut." Lorne said.  
  
"We have 2 more attacks. One fatality." A security guard said.  
  
"Ok, seal off the building. Nobody in or out till we know what we got here. Spell, virus, mass hysteria." Angel said.  
  
"Yes, sir." The guard picked up his radio. "All channels, we have a code black. Affirmative. We are closing Pandora's Box."  
  
"Hey, say, fearless leaders, uh, if you don't mind, what do you say I, uh, nurse this bump with an ice pack while I barricade myself in my office, huh?" Lorne asked.  
  
"Your call." Angel said. "Stop by the lab and tell Fred we need to know the second she figures out what's causing this."  
  
"Hey, Lorne, do me a favor first." Buffy said. "And also grab my sister and barricade her with you."  
  
"Yeah, gotcha." Lorne left.  
  
"Come on, you two. You know what's causing all this." Eve said.  
  
"No, Eve. We don't." Buffy said.  
  
"This is just the beginning. The fabric of reality is starting to unravel. For my money, it all comes down to Angel and.." Spike walked out of an, closing the door behind him.  
  
"Spike." Angel said.  
  
"I don't know what you're putting in the water coolers around here, but your secretary just started crying blood and tried to rip me a few new ones." Spike said.  
  
"Harmony?"  
  
"Had to put her porch lights out. For the best. I'm sure you guys understand."  
  
"Oh, yeah. You're a real hero."  
  
"And that's our problem in a nutshell." Eve said.  
  
"Our problem?" Spike asked.  
  
"Eve's got this theory." Buffy said.  
  
"Fact, babe." Eve said. "There's only supposed to be one candidate for the vampire with the soul hero part in the big show. Two of you, and the wheel of destiny starts to spin off its axis. That's why everything and everyone is going mad."  
  
"Hold on a tick. You're blaming this on us?" Spike asked.  
  
"No, she's blaming it on you." Angel said.  
  
"This town might not be big enough for the both of you." Eve said.  
  
"Well, screw this town, then. Screw this devil's funhouse." Spike started to walk away. He turned and pointed at Angel. "And screw you for good measure. I think I'll take the new flesh and bones across the pond back to Europe. See ya later Buffy!"  
  
"Spike, by town, I mean this entire plane of existence." Spike stopped at the elevator. "You won't solve this disequilibrium by leaving. You might even make it worse."  
  
Gunn stepped off the elevator loosening his tie, his eyes wide with fear. "Let's not make it worse. We don't want worse. I just went to the white room to see what the big cat had to say."  
  
"And?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Cat's gone."  
  
"Gone?" Eve asked.  
  
"The white room, too. Elevator just opened up into a howling abyss. You ever heard a howling abyss? Terrible sound."  
  
"Cat's gone means the conduit's gone means we're alone in this. No contact with the senior partners. Just us and a big, gaping tear in the balance of the universe."  
  
"Spike.. stay." Angel said. Spike shot a glance at Angel. "Please. Europe'll still be there after we've worked this out."  
  
"Maybe." Buffy said.  
  
"Probably."  
  
Spike let the elevator doors close. "How exactly are you gonna work this out? You tell me we're making a tear in the galaxy or whatnot? You think you're just gonna sew that back up?"  
  
"If there was just some way to determine which one of you the prophecy's really about, maybe.." Eve said.  
  
"I just read the Shanshu prophecy, and I'm telling you, there was nothing in it.." Angel said.  
  
"Hold on." Spike said. "You read the prophecy? The one you don't believe in?" Angel rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Uh, load of rubbish, you said? Well, isn't that bloody interesting."  
  
"Spike, shut the hell up." Buffy snapped. He looked at her in shock. "This is serious. You need to shut your yap and play along with the other puppies for once."  
  
"No offense, Angel. What we need is someone who's an expert on the Shanshu scriptures." Gunn said.  
  
"Fine, but Wesley's not here." Angel said.  
  
"No, but his department is. Maybe somebody there can.." Eve started.  
  
"Do what? I'm telling you, I read the prophecy."  
  
***  
  
Angel sat in a chair in front of Sirk's desk, Buffy was seated beside Angel holding his hand, and Eve, Gunn, and Spike were standing behind them. "You didn't read the prophecy." Sirk said.  
  
"I didn't?" Angel asked.  
  
"You read a translation of the prophecy. It's like comparing the King James Bible with the original Aramaic, the Hebrew. Much of the flavor, the subtlety of usage, the historical context has been stripped away. Read the prophecy. You may as well have read a 12-year-old's book report on the subject."  
  
"I miss Wesley." Buffy whispered to Angel.  
  
"Ok, Sirk." Angel said. "Point made. Listen, is there anything in the Shanshu that can help us with what's going on?"  
  
"Yeah. What's it say about me?" Spike asked.  
  
"There is a newly translated group of verses which may perhaps prove relevant. 'The root of the tree will split in 2. And each thing will seek nourishment from the buried river.'" Sirk said.  
  
"Sounds like a gardening tip."  
  
"It's metaphor. Please tell me I don't have to explain metaphor to you people."  
  
"Sirk, the text." Angel said.  
  
"Ah. Here we are. 'Storm unleashed. The balance will falter until the vampire with a soul drinks from the cup of perpetual torment.'"  
  
"More metaphor."  
  
"No, that's real."  
  
"So there's a cup." Buffy said.  
  
"Perpetual torment? Just know that's not gonna taste very good." Spike said.  
  
"'He will have the weight of worlds upon him, binding his limbs, grinding his bones to meal until he saves creation.. or destroys it.'" Sirk read.  
  
"Uh.. right. So, what's in it for me?"  
  
"The vampire will have his past washed clean."  
  
"And live again in mortal form. Yeah, that part I know." Angel said.  
  
"Yeah, I bet you do." Spike said.  
  
"So, Angel drinks from this cup. Our computers go back on line, phones stop ringing, and people quit turning into homicidal maniacs?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Who says it's Angel supposed to take the swig? Who says it's about him at all?" Spike asked.  
  
"Aw, come on, Spike. You really think this is about you?" Angel asked.  
  
"Oh, why the bloody hell not? Just cause you.."  
  
"Boys, let's focus on the problem at hand. We don't want to be wrong about this." Eve said.  
  
"There is no wrong." Sirk said. "The drinking of the cup is predestined. That can't be changed. Whoever drinks from it was meant to. When one is confirmed as the central figure of the prophecy, the universe should realign itself."  
  
"So, this cup thing. Where is it? Does it say?" Gunn asked.  
  
"It does offer some details, yes. Housed in the hidden city of Petra. Mm- hmm. Disappears during the crusades. Surfaces again at the Vatican. Vanishes in the third year of the inquisition. Then.. yes. Interesting."  
  
"What?" Angel asked.  
  
"It's in Nevada."  
  
"Nevada?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Death Valley, to be exact. 'The earth will thrash and mark the appearance of the cup at the columns.'"  
  
"Columns? That sounds vaguely.." Angel started.  
  
"'And the desert will swallow cup and house whole and..' this can only be loosely translated. 'And the fat lady will sing no more.'"  
  
"Opera."  
  
"Opera?" Buffy asked.  
  
"The Columns was an opera house in Death Valley. It was buried in an earthquake in '38. Made headlines in Los Angeles. That's only a few hours away. I can get there and back before.."  
  
"Angel, we got a seriously major crisis going on here. Might not be the best time to go running after some mystical cup." Gunn said.  
  
"I really don't have much of a choice. If it's there, I'm just gonna have to accept that the prophecy's real, and hope that it stops this madness. In the meantime, you're in charge." Angel stood. "Keep this place quarantined till I get.." He looked around the room. "Where's Spike?" 


	17. Destiny p2

Chapter 17  
  
Buffy sat in the passenger's seat of the Camaro as Angel sped down the highway. He dialed a number on the car phone and pushed send. "Yello?" Spike asked on the other line.  
  
"You took my Viper." Angel said.  
  
"My Viper now, mate. Possession's 9/10s. Oughta know that, running a law firm and such."  
  
"You're not married to him." Buffy said.  
  
"Buffy!?"  
  
"You think this is a game? People are dying." Angel said.  
  
"And one of us is going to stop it. Hey, what do you know? I vote for me."  
  
"You're outvoted. It's a prophecy. And the Shanshu's not about you, Spike." Buffy said.  
  
"What? You can't accept it now? Sad, really. All these years, Angel, believing you're the signified monkey, only to find out you're just a big hunk of nobody cares."  
  
"I really wished you stayed a ghost." Angel said.  
  
"But I didn't, did I? Burned up saving the world, and now I'm back for real. Wonder why that is? Oh, wait. Cause I'm the one, you git!"  
  
"Spike, I don't have time to.."  
  
Spike made static noises. "What's that? I'm losing you. You're.. What do they call it? Oh, right. Breaking up. You're breaking up."  
  
"Spike, don't.." Spike hung up. "Idiot."  
  
"That bastard." Buffy said. "This prophecy is about you and he knows it."  
  
Angel looked at his royally pissed off wife. "You're taking my side instead of his?"  
  
"Of course I am. Damn it, Angel! This is your prophecy. No one has the right to take it from you. Not even Captain Peroxide."  
  
Angel took her hand. "This is our prophecy. It's as much yours as it is mine."  
  
"I just.." Buffy sighed and closed her eyes, holding back tears. "Ever since I found out about the Shanshu prophecy, I dreamt about being the mother of your children. Real, everyday, normal children. Then I came back with the memories of that day.. I wanted you human more than ever. I've never felt anything like the way I felt in your warm arms listening to your heart beat." She touched her hand to his chest. "Thump, thump. Thump, thump. It's the most precious sound I've ever heard." Her face hardened. "Spike is not taking that drink."  
  
***  
  
Buffy and Angel arrived at the opera house located in the middle of the open desert. Buffy split away, going to find the cup faster. Angel looked around, when Spike spoke from a balcony above him. "Here we are, then. 2 vampire heroes.. competing to wet our whistle with a drink of light, refreshing torment."  
  
"Is that what you think you are.. a hero?" Angel asked.  
  
"Saved the world, didn't I?"  
  
"Once. Talk to me after you've done it a couple more times."  
  
"Done talking, mate. Got a prophecy needs fulfilling. Ta." Spike walked out of sight.  
  
"Spike! Damn it." Angel followed him.  
  
Angel walked down through the rows of seats in the opera hall toward the stage where the golden cup sat spotlighted on a pedestal. He jumped onto the stage, and as he got close to the cup, Spike jumped down from the rafters behind him. Angel stopped and rolled his eyes. They both looked at the cup. "Thought it'd be a little less goldeny, what with the torment and all." Spike said.  
  
"So.. what do we do now?"  
  
Spike sighed and punched Angel. "What do ya think?" Spike paced back and forth while Angel got back to his feet. "Come on! Let's see how much soul you really got in there."  
  
"Spike, we don't have time for this."  
  
"Keep your knickers dry, Sally. You're not gonna last that long."  
  
"Fine. We'll do it your way." Angel punched Spike hard. They traded punches, then Spike threw Angel up in the air, where he landed on a balcony behind him. Angel landed on a cross, but it didn't burn him because of the Gem. He picked it up and threw it at Spike.  
  
"Ha, ha, ha, ha! Oh, yeah. Look at you. Thinking you're the big savior, fighting for truth, justice, and soccer moms.. Without that ring, you can't lay flesh on a cross without smelling like bacon, can you?"  
  
"Like you're any different."  
  
"Well, that's just it. I am. And you know it. You had a soul forced on you.. as a curse. Make you suffer for all the horrible things you'd done. But me.. I fought for my soul. Went through the demon trials. Almost did me in a dozen times over, but I kept fighting. Cause I knew it was the right thing to do." Spike jumped up to the balcony in one smooth motion, landing in front of Angel. "It's my destiny."  
  
"Really? I heard it was just to get back into a girl's pants." Buffy said behind Spike. "And personally? I like bacon." She backhanded Spike with all of her strength and sent him flying across the balcony to crash into the far wall.  
  
Spike stood and used his toe to lift a metal rod of rebar into his hands. He swung it at Buffy, but she did a somersault off of the balcony, landing on the stage near the cup. Angel followed suit and walked toward the cup, when Spike threw the rebar at him like a spear, narrowly missing him. Angel turned to look at Spike, who jumped from the balcony wielding another rod of rebar. Angel grabbed the first piece of rebar that Spike threw at him and used it to deflect Spike's weapon. Angel got in a good punch.  
  
"Used to hit a lot harder, gramps." Spike said.  
  
"No, your head's just gotten thicker."  
  
Spike knocked Angel out and Buffy kicked him in the small of his back. "Bloody hell woman! Would you leave this fight to the vampires?"  
  
"No." She grabbed the rebar in Spike's hand. He tried to yank it away, but she redirected his momentum and pushed it upward. She viciously head- butted him and his nose squirted blood. Buffy pulled the rebar rod away from Spike and swung it like a baseball bat, knocking Spike up into the balcony. She followed him, ready to swing at Spike again, but Spike stood and blocked the swing.  
  
"You're mum's not here to save you this time. Are you sure you want to do this?"  
  
"That prophecy's about Angel and you know it. Stop living in the land of denial." They traded bone crunching blows that would kill a normal person.  
  
Spike punched Buffy, knocking her off of the balcony. She landed on the stage below, coughing and bleeding at the mouth. He jumped down to the stage in front of her. "Vampire with a soul. Nobody knows what side he's gonna fight on.. when the big show comes down. Except we already know what side you two're on, don't we? Already made your choice. Traded in your capes and tights for nice comfy chairs at Wolfram & bloody Hart." Spike swung the rebar, ready to knock Buffy out with it, but Angel reached over and grabbed it before he could complete the motion.  
  
"Little more complicated than that." Angel used the rebar Spike was holding to get leverage to stand, knocking Spike down in the process. "But you always were a bit simple.. Willy."  
  
As Angel reached for the cup, Spike charged at him, punching him hard, knocking them both down. They stood, both having their hand at the other's throat. "Come on, hero. Tell me more." Spike punched Angel. "Teach me what it means." Again. "And I'll tell you why you can't stand the bloody sight of me." He punched Angel a third time.  
  
Angel punched Spike back. "Tell it to your therapist."  
  
"Cause every time you look at me.." Spike punched Angel. "You see all the dirty little things I've done, all the lives I've taken.. Because of you! Drusilla sired me.. but you.. you made me a monster." He punched Angel and final time and walked toward the cup.  
  
Buffy launched herself at him and Spike didn't see it coming. She bowled into him and knocked both of them off the stage into the orchestra pit. The Slayer was the first one up. Spike went to punch her, but she ducked under the blow and kicked Spike in the stomach. As he started to double over, she grabbed his arm and yanked him forward, slamming his head into the wall. He turned around in full vamp face and snarled at her. She smiled back at him, blood trickling down the side of her mouth. He threw himself at her and she caught him by the lapels, dropping to the ground and using his forward momentum to toss him to the other wall while she gracefully flipped to her feet and turned towards the stage. "Angel! Grab the cup! Now!"  
  
Spike came out from behind her and grabbed her around the throat. "You know better than to turn your back on a vampire that's still in the game." He squeezed tighter, cutting off her air. "Angelus!"  
  
Angel stopped and turned, looking down. "Buffy! Spike, you wouldn't dare kill her."  
  
"Wouldn't I? That's what you've got to ask yourself. That cup there is worth my humanity. I'm willing to trade Buffy's life for it."  
  
"Let her go."  
  
Spike jumped up onto the stage, taking Buffy with him. He had her arms pinned behind her painfully. "Step away from the cup." Buffy's eyes widened and she shook her head no frantically. Spike looked down at her. "Are you really that hard up for your hubby to drink from that cup?"  
  
Angel stepped away. "Let her go, Spike."  
  
Spike threw Buffy towards Angel and he caught her easily. "No, Angel. That's yours."  
  
"I'm not willing to let you die for my humanity. That's why I gave it up the first time."  
  
"Awe, isn't that just sweet?" Spike asked, walking towards the cup.  
  
"Spike." Angel said. Spike turned back. "I didn't make you, Spike. I just opened up the door and let the real you out."  
  
Spike grabbed the cross and hit Angel in the face with it. "You never knew the real me." His hand sizzled on the cross. He threw it away and walked toward Angel. "Too busy trying to see your own reflection.. praying there was someone as disgusting as you in the world, so you could stand to live with yourself. Take a long look, hero. I'm nothing like you!"  
  
"No. You're less. That's why Buffy never really loved you: Because you weren't me."  
  
Spike grabbed Angel's lapels. "Guess that means she was thinking about you.. all those times I was puttin' it to her."  
  
Angel grabbed Spike's wrists and pulled them apart. He punched Spike, then threw him across the room, causing some of the wood props to shatter. They traded blow after blow and Spike jabbed Angel in the arm with a splinter of wood. Angel ripped the splinter out of his arm and glared at Spike. "All right.." Angel changed into vampface. "Let's finish this." Spike changed into vampface as well. They charged each other. Angel scratched Spike's chest with a fragment of wood. "How's it feel?"  
  
Spike scratched back. "You tell me." He kicked Angel repeatedly in the gut and the wood fragment Angel was holding went flying into the air. Spike kicked Angel to the ground, grabbed the wood fragment from the air, and reared back in a staking motion. He paused for a moment, then drove the stake into Angel's body, causing him to scream in pain. Spike stood and looked down at Angel. He had driven the stake into Angel's shoulder. Angel let his face slip back into human form as Buffy crawled over to him, cradling him. "Probably should've taken that ring back and dusted you." Spike returned to human face. "But honestly.. I don't want to hear her bitch about it." He turned to walk toward the cup.  
  
Angel pulled the stake from his shoulder. "Spike, wait." Spike picked up the cup. "Wait. That's not a prize you're holding." Spike looked at Angel. "It's not a trophy. It's a burden. It's a cross." Buffy helped Angel stand. "One you're gonna have to bear till it burns you to ashes. Believe me. I know." Spike put the cup back on the pedestal and looked at Angel. "So ask yourself: Is this really the destiny that was meant for you? Do you even really want it? Or is it that you just want to take something away from me?"  
  
Spike shrugged. "Bit of both." He picked the cup back up and drank from it.  
  
Angel lunged to try to stop him, but it was too late. "Spike.."  
  
Spike dropped the cup and stared at Angel, bewildered. "I-it's.. Mountain Dew."  
  
Angel looked at the cup, then at Spike. They all stared at each other in confusion.  
  
***  
  
A bloody and beaten Buffy and Angel walked into the lab. Fred was there checking on Harmony and Gunn, who were restrained on stretchers. "Fred." Angel said.  
  
"Angel. Buffy!" Fred rushed to them. "God, what happened?"  
  
"We fell down.. some stairs." Buffy said. Fred stared. "Big stairs. Gunn?"  
  
"We've tried everything.. medical, mystical. Nothing's stopping it."  
  
"It's still going on?" Angel asked.  
  
"And getting worse. What about the cup? Did you.."  
  
"Ah, it was a fake. Somebody set us up."  
  
"What? Who?"  
  
"We don't know. Sirk was the one who sent us there. Maybe he's.."  
  
Spike walked into the office, just as bloody and beaten as Buffy and Angel. "Gone. Cleaned out his office and pulled a puff of smoke."  
  
Fred stared at the three. "Stairs, huh?"  
  
"All right. Sirk's gone. The cup's a fake, but the madness is real. So what are we gonna do about it?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I say we start by untying the brother." Gunn groaned.  
  
"Charles!" Fred undid his restraints.  
  
Harmony came to and looked at her restraints. "Am I in trouble?" Angel untied her.  
  
"Hey. What the hell happened?" Gunn asked, looking at Buffy and Angel.  
  
"I think I can tell you." A horse Eve said behind everyone.  
  
***  
  
"Senior partners stepped in." Eve finished. "Apparently they were working on the problem since it started. They managed to temporarily stabilize the universal equilibrium."  
  
"Temporarily?" Buffy asked. "For how long? What about Sirk and this fantasy he fed us about the cup?"  
  
"Partners don't know a thing about it. They're as angry as you two."  
  
"Really doubt that."  
  
"Don't worry, guys. Sirk can't hide for long. We'll bring him in, find out who put him up to it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go home and ice my neck." Eve stood and walked to the door.  
  
Gunn stood. "Uh, Eve.. Uh.. listen.. I'm really.."  
  
"Don't sweat it, counselor. You've other things to worry about. The whole Shanshu thing's still unresolved. Still 2 vampires with souls. Guess that's a question for another day." She walked out.  
  
"Any more days like today, and there won't be another day."  
  
"Yeah, well.. meantime.." Spike stood up. "This souled ex-ghost vampire's got some corporeal drinking to catch up on. What do ya say, Charlie-boy? Feel like gettin' pissed?"  
  
"No. No, my head feels like it's gonna split open and toss my toys and candy all over the floor."  
  
"You're way ahead of me. Fair enough." Spike walked out.  
  
"Maybe you should have Fred check you out." Buffy said, kicking into motherly mode.  
  
Gunn smiled at her worried expression. "Nah, she'll just wanna strap me down again." With that, he walked out.  
  
Buffy smiled and turned to look at Angel's dark expression as he stared out the window. "You ok?"  
  
"I don't know. He beat me, Buffy." Angel said. "He beat me to the cup."  
  
"You mean the fake cup? The make-believe, fairy-tale cup? So what?!"  
  
"No, you don't.." Angel sighed. "He won the fight.. for the first time. Doesn't matter if the cup is real or not. In the end, he.. Spike was stronger. He wanted it more."  
  
"Angel, it doesn't mean anything. He cheated. He used the one person that he knew you would trade everything you have for to get to that cup."  
  
"What if it does mean something? What if it means that.. I'm not the one?"  
  
Buffy sighed and went to stand in front of Angel. She took his larger hands in her smaller ones and looked him in the eyes with all the love in the universe for him. "You're my one." He smiled, remembering the little speech he had given her when she'd tried to give up. "That's all that matters to me right now, Angel. I've accepted the fact that we can't have more children and most importantly, I've accepted you. When I thought there was a great chance that if you drank from that cup and we could be almost normal humans together and make everyday like our one day together.. Angel, it was overwhelming. I know you felt it too because I know you. But it wasn't real. The cup, I mean. And when the cup turned out to be a fake, I realized that.." Buffy sighed. "That if that day comes and I'm still here.. It won't make much of a difference. I'll still have you no matter what. And that's all I've ever asked for." She smiled up at him and he wrapped her in his arms, holding onto his most precious treasure. 


	18. Harm's Way p1

Chapter 18  
  
"Buffy! Angel!" Dawn called. "Come check this out! You're new commercial's on!" Buffy and Angel walked in from the bedroom and sat on the couch. "This is too cool. You guys're on TV!"  
  
"It's ok." Buffy said.  
  
"Ah! It is true." Angel said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"The camera does put on 10 pounds. Look! I look fat."  
  
"Oh my God! You're superficial underneath that bad ass exterior." Buffy glanced at the TV and saw her sitting at her and Angel's desk. "Hey look! That's me. I'm on TV! I hope the guys see this. Do they get these kind of commercials in Europe?"  
  
"Superficial?"  
  
"Ok, shut up. It's not everyday you get a cool commercial on TV!"  
  
"I should call Willow and Xander!" Dawn said.  
  
"They won't be in. I think Giles said that today they were picking up a girl from Russia."  
  
"Does Giles have enough room at his place in England?"  
  
"Will says it's huge. He's got a whole bunch of acres to build on."  
  
"And we're funding the building of a couple of buildings for dorms and practice areas." Angel said.  
  
"Basically we're rebuilding the Watchers Council. But this time they won't be snooty, stuck up, controlling watchers. It'll be Giles, Willow, Xander, Robin, and Faith as the top dogs and they'll recruit who they see fit to guide the girls."  
  
"Can I go to the compound?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Winter break's coming up. We'll see."  
  
"You know, you're anniversary is coming up. What do you guys plan on doing for it?"  
  
"Working." Both Buffy and Angel said.  
  
"Dawn, we don't really have time for parties." Angel said apologetically.  
  
"Besides, anniversaries are just as bad as birthday's for me." Buffy said. "I don't want to burn LA to the ground."  
  
"Then don't. It can be a small party." Dawn said. "It's not every day that the two greatest warriors have a marriage anniversary."  
  
"We're ok with it, Dawnie. Really."  
  
"Ok." Dawn said, shrugging. "Have it your gloom and doom way."  
  
***  
  
Harmony set two white mugs on the ledge in front of her, with the text "#1 BOSS" on each facing outward. Buffy and Angel stood there, Angel frowning and facing Harmony and Buffy reading through a case file.  
  
"So, you've got the department heads at 11:00, your 1:00 with Mistress Shriva from human, I'm sorry, non-human resources got moved to 2:00." Harmony said. "Swung by the cleaners. Zippo luck getting out the Frophla slime out of your shirt, Buffy. Oh, and I took care of the catering for the big feuding demon clan confab, unless you guys have any requests."  
  
"Achite vong mochzinite." Angel said, clicking his tongue.  
  
"Yeah, ok. Could you spell that?"  
  
"Give it up sweetie." Buffy said. She took an earpiece from Angel's ear.  
  
He shook his head. A language instructor's voice could be heard through the headphone. "Greetings, your eminence. Let me take your staff. Lopenghote vong." The instructor clicked his tongue. Angel stopped the tape and wrapped up the headphone cords. Harmony handed Angel some message slips as he said to Buffy, "My clicks are all wrong."  
  
"You're trying to hard." Buffy looked at Harmony. "You figure out the catering for tomorrow?"  
  
"Helloo! I just.."  
  
Harmony was cut off by Gunn walking up and saying, "Morning. Ready to do this thing?"  
  
Buffy and Angel nodded and they walked into their office with Gunn. Buffy looked at Gunn. "When's he supposed to be here?"  
  
"In a couple of minutes." Gunn looked at his watch as Angel grabbed a battle axe off the wall. "Hey! Tomorrow's your guys' anniversary. Got any party plans?"  
  
"No." Buffy and Angel said.  
  
"Why not? It's not everyday you two have something not involving a big demon kill to celebrate."  
  
"We're just too busy." Angel said at the same time Buffy said, "We don't want to make a big fuss."  
  
Gunn was about to say something, but he noticed the demon, Eli, they were supposed to be dealing with outside with Harmony. He walked to the door. "Eli, come on in." Eli said something to Harmony and then walked into the office. "Have a seat."  
  
"Sure thanks." Eli sat down. "I'm sure glad you.."  
  
Angel decapitated Eli just as Harmony walked in. Eli's head rolled across the room, landing at Harmony's feet. She looked up at Angel, revolted. He just said, "Get that cleaned up, would you?"  
  
Harmony shook her head and walked out. A few minutes later, she led a clean up crew in. As two men carried Eli's body out of Angel's office in a body bag, Harmony sat at her desk trying to figure out why. Buffy, Angel, and Gunn were leaning against it talking to her.  
  
"I just.. I don't get it. Why'd you kill Eli?" Harmony asked.  
  
"Didn't much like what he was doing in his off hours." Angel said.  
  
"Well, that's not right. What Eli did on his own time.."  
  
"Is dismember virgins." Buffy said.  
  
"Oh. Well, a person's religious beliefs is no cause for.."  
  
"He did it for his own amusement." Gunn said.  
  
"Oh. Well.. Ok. Still, couldn't you have given him a stern warning or something first?"  
  
"Called a zero tolerance policy, not a 'maybe this once' policy." Angel said. "Nobody in this office gets away with murder, not anymore."  
  
Fred, Lorne, and Wesley walked through the lobby as Eli's body was being carried away. "Mmm..,. let me guess. Position just opened up in accounting?" Lorne asked.  
  
"Hardest part of the job, terminating an employee." Gunn said.  
  
"Once again, keeping corporate America safe from evil." Spike said, walking in.  
  
"Spike." Fred said.  
  
"I was wondering when you'd turn up." Gunn said.  
  
"Where have you been? It's been days."  
  
"Out enjoying freedom from my ghostly confines, luv." Spike said.  
  
"There haven't been any side effects since you recorporealized, have there?"  
  
"Bit of a hang over, but that's to be expected after all the drinking. Just thought I'd swing by and say my final farewells."  
  
"You're leaving?" Buffy asked.  
  
"You catch on quick, don't you? Yeah, I thought I'd push off, seeing as how I got somebody waiting for me."  
  
"She doesn't even know you're alive."  
  
"Who's fault is that?"  
  
"Don't even start with me. Just get out of here."  
  
"Buffy, Angel, I'm not sure that's wise, given the Shanshu prophecy is still unresolved.." Wesley said.  
  
"That's your problem, mate." Spike said. He looked at Angel. "You're welcome to that heroic destiny, whether you deserve it or not. Me, I got better things to do than wait around for the 4 bloody horsemen." He walked away.  
  
"Spike.."  
  
"Let him go." Angel said.  
  
Spike turned back. "Yeah. Here's the thing. Could use a little walkin'- around money. How bout a few hundred?"  
  
"How bout no?"  
  
"Typical, you cheap sod. Right, then. Settle for some wheels."  
  
"If it's gonna get you out of here faster, fine. Just not the Viper, it's mine."  
  
"Or the Camero." Buffy added. "That's mine."  
  
"Viper it is, then. Any message for Faith?" Spike asked.  
  
"Tell her you're a moron." Buffy said, walking into her and Angel's office. They were both still bruised and healing from their knock-down-drag-out-no- holds-barred fight with Spike.  
  
Spike followed, ducking past Angel. "You know, it's amazing how quickly you can turn on me when I come up against your husband." He stopped and looked at Buffy's face. She was staring at him as if he was a retard. "Ok, I can see where I messed up. I don't really want to leave on the wrong foot with you, ducks. You're one of the only real friends I've ever had. You and Faith and Fred never gave up on me."  
  
"Spike.."  
  
"I care about you Buffy. I didn't want to fight you."  
  
"But you did want to fight Angel and that just makes it all better."  
  
"Ok, you don't have to get snooty." Spike sighed. "I'm sorry about pounding in you and your wanker husband's faces."  
  
Buffy was trying hard to suppress a smile. "Will you just leave?"  
  
"Not until you stop trying to fight it and smile."  
  
Buffy couldn't help it. She smiled. "Fine. There. Now will you leave?"  
  
Spike stepped up and hugged her gently. "Thanks for being a friend." Buffy nodded and Spike left the office.  
  
***  
  
Buffy, Angel, Fred, Gunn, Wesley, and Lorne sat in the conference room at the table. Harmony was sitting in a chair by the wall. "This is war." Angel said. "2 demon clans, the Vinjis and the Sahrvin. They've been battling it out for 5 generations."  
  
"Way back when, clans got along ok." Gunn said. "Shared a few hundred miles of desert, traded livestock, and even partied together once in a while. Then a Vinji used the wrong fork at a Sahrvin bonding ceremony. Sahrvins took offense, and they've been slaughtering each other ever since."  
  
"You're saying this whole thing started over a fork faux pas?" Buffy asked.  
  
"They're pretty finicky about manners."  
  
"But the clans have agreed to negotiate a truce, here, tomorrow."  
  
"Why now?" Fred asked. "It's your anniversary tomorrow."  
  
"It's not like we're celebrating."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because.. We need to get back to the truce thing here."  
  
"Demon rights activist by the name of Tobias Dupree got involved." Gunn said. "He's liaison to both clans. Only guy in the world they all trust, and he called us for help."  
  
"Etiquette aside, the Vinji and the Sahrvin are notoriously vicious. Why not let them wipe each other out?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Hey, I got no love for these guys, but we manage to push through a peace plan and the whole demon world's gonna know we got game."  
  
"That makes sense, in a kind of gray, Machiavellian kind of way." Fred said.  
  
"Obviously both clans are sensitive to the smallest slight." Angel said. "We don't dot an 'i' or cross a 't,' this whole thing could explode in our faces."  
  
"This is a complete list of manners and customs." Wesley said, reading through a file. "We should probably all memorize this. Apparently, gazing at a Vinji's ankles can lead to eye gouging."  
  
A young man walked up to the conference room door. Lorne noticed him and waved him in. "Come on. Dandito, come on. He gets a wee shy around the big bosses. All the way in, yeah."  
  
"I, uh, finished the seating chart." Dan handed Lorne a small presentation board.  
  
"All right. This kid was up all night jigsawing who's going where tomorrow. He's a real up-and-comer, this one."  
  
"My lab managed that upgrade to the weapons scanner, like you requested." Fred said to Buffy.  
  
"Foolproof?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I'd say yes, but then some fool would just come along and sneak something past us, but it's still state of the art."  
  
"And since none of the clan representatives speak English, I'll be doing most of the talking." Gunn said.  
  
"You?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Yeah. Along with the law, and the Gilbert and Sullivan, also got me a few demon languages in the brain upload."  
  
"So, aside from forks, ankles, and us not knowing what they're saying, any other potential minefields?" Fred asked.  
  
"All their etiquette issues go along with a healthy dose of superstition." Angel said.  
  
"You don't know the half of it." Harmony said. "I've been doing a whole bunch of research on these guys, their customs and stuff? Did you know that they think poodles are wicked bad luck?"  
  
"Harmony, I'm glad you're here." Wesley said. Harmony smiled, a touch proud. "We'll be needing lunch."  
  
"Good idea. We should order before the crush."  
  
"Not Thai again. Something lighter." Buffy said.  
  
"I could go for something French!" Fred said.  
  
"Oh! That does sound good."  
  
Harmony took orders and left the room. Fred looked back at Buffy and Angel. "You guys have to do something for your anniversary. We went to Vegas last year."  
  
"We weren't all that busy last year." Angel said.  
  
"We've got this summit to work through tomorrow. We don't have time for a party." Buffy said.  
  
"We could incorporate a party with the truce. Both clans like a good party." Gunn said.  
  
"No!" Buffy and Angel said.  
  
"No parties." Buffy said. "We're good."  
  
"We don't need a party." Angel said.  
  
"What we need is to make it through this summit with everyone's eyes intact and the right forks where they belong."  
  
"You're the bosses." Fred said with a sad sigh.  
  
***  
  
Later that afternoon, Buffy and Angel were staring at a huge camel in the middle of the lobby. Angel called Harmony and they waited for her to get down there. As soon as she rounded the corner, Angel rounded on her. "Harmony! Do you wanna explain this?"  
  
"Ok, this is totally my fault. I specifically told the caterers the delivery was for tomorrow, but I should've called to confirm. You know caterers, not the best listeners." The elevator dinged and Fred walked out, reading papers. "OH!" She was startled when she came face to face with the large camel.  
  
"Harmony, uh, got us a camel." Buffy said.  
  
"Like I said, I did a lot of research. Camel meat's a delicacy, so I thought it would be a great way to kick off the summit, cause of the clans being so uptight? Like.. comfort food." Harmony said.  
  
"Comfort food?"  
  
"Uh-huh! And as host and hostess, you guys get the honor of slicing off its hump and sticking a hot poker through its heart. And then the demon leaders rip apart its carcass with their bare hands."  
  
"Are you.. I don't even know h-how.." Angel sighed.  
  
"Maybe the camel was the wrong way to go." Fred said.  
  
"Harmony, you are supposed to answer the phones, make appointments, and anticipate mine and Buffy's needs, which does not include a petting zoo in our lobby."  
  
"Ok, but.. The caterer said no returns." Harmony said.  
  
"Get it out of here!" Angel stomped back to the office.  
  
Buffy sighed and followed. The summit tomorrow was wearing down on them both. The tension was completely obvious. Buffy decided to have a small celebration with just the two of them tonight. Maybe it would get rid of some of the tension in both of them.  
  
***  
  
Angel walked into the penthouse and took off his jacket. "Buffy?" She had left the office early that day and he hadn't seen or heard from her since. "Are you here?" Soft, slow music played from the hidden speakers all over the penthouse. He smelled vanilla everywhere. That was Buffy's scent. A small smile started to creep across his face. "Sweetie?"  
  
"In here." Buffy called from the bedroom.  
  
He walked in. There were dozens of vanilla scented candles lit all over the room. It gave the place a soft, romantic glow. "I thought we weren't celebrating."  
  
"I said no party. Besides, these are aroma therapy candles. We both need to just relax before tomorrow's summit. We've been at everybody's throat lately." Buffy was wearing a long, black, silk nightgown that had lace over her stomach instead of the silk. The long sleeves of the robe were lace and they belled out at the ends giving the ensemble an old fashioned feel.  
  
Angel nodded appreciatively. "You are very wise."  
  
"I'm becoming cookies faster than I thought. You hungry?"  
  
Angel inwardly shuddered. Buffy had no idea how much she could turn him on and turn him into a ball of carnal desire. "Starving." She took his hand and pulled him to her, wrapping his arms around her waist tightly. "What about Dawn?"  
  
Buffy started to unbutton his shirt. "She's at a friend's house. I told her she could go."  
  
"We're alone."  
  
She moved around behind him and slid his shirt off, her hands never leaving his skin. "All alone." There was a knock on the door. Buffy leaned her head against Angel's back. "Except whoever that is."  
  
"I'll get it." Angel walked out to the living room and opened the door.  
  
"Am I interrupting something?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Actually, yeah."  
  
"Oh.." Gunn glanced past Angel and saw Buffy standing there in her nightgown. "Oh! Sorry man."  
  
"What'd you want?"  
  
"I had a file.. And I wanted to make sure that Buffy was ok. Fred said she left early. I didn't mean to intrude.. I can come back. Sorry Buffy."  
  
"It's ok." Buffy said.  
  
"Sorry." Gunn turned around hastily and got back into the elevator. The doors began to close. "Sorry." 


	19. Harm's Way p2

Chapter 19  
  
Harmony sunk low in her desk chair, when Buffy walked up. "Blood?" She asked.  
  
"Where!?" Harmony looked at her clothes.  
  
"That's what I'd like to know. Where's Angel's blood? Harmony, we've got the demon summit today, and you're late, and Angel's cranky and.." Buffy noticed Harmony peering up over her desktop. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Desk crunches. Get fit while you sit. You should see my abs. You wanna? Mug o' blood, coming right up, boss. You want anything?"  
  
"I'm good." Buffy started to move away, but turned back. "Harmony.."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I can't afford to have anything go wrong today."  
  
"What could go wrong?"  
  
"Oh, let me count the ways." Buffy sighed, walking into her office.  
  
Angel looked up from his desk. "Hi." Buffy slid onto his lap and laid her head on his shoulder. "You ok?"  
  
"Tired."  
  
"Well, after last night's escapades, I can't imagine why."  
  
"Shut up. You were the one who decided to be athletic."  
  
Angel pulled out a little box from his pocket. "Happy anniversary."  
  
"You got me a gift?" Angel nodded. Buffy smiled and opened it. It was the same silver cross that he had given to her when they had first met. Only this time there was a small silver ring with three pink diamonds shaped like little hearts. "Oh my God." She covered her mouth.  
  
"I had a team go in and dig around where our house used to be. I wanted to try and recover whatever we could from Sunnydale and they found this in the same box it had originally came in. There was nothing wrong with it. It was just the same as the night I gave it to you. Except for that ring."  
  
As Buffy slid it on, she asked, "Did they find anything else?"  
  
Angel reached into a drawer and pulled out an envelope. "There was more, but I had them put it in one of the vaults in the basement."  
  
Buffy pulled a stack of pictures out of the envelope. They were pictures from her days in Sunnydale. The last two pictures made her tear up. One was the picture Willow took of her holding baby Connor in the hospital and Angel at her side, kissing her sweat matted hair. The other was Buffy, Angel, and their grown up Connor together, smiling as they stood on the beach. "I thought everything of Connor was erased."  
  
"Apparently not everything." Angel wiped away her tears. "I thought you should have these."  
  
Harmony walked in and handed Angel his mug of blood. "Is everything ok?"  
  
"It's fine." Buffy said.  
  
"Ooook, but you're all splotchy."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Harmony turned to go, but stopped and looked back. "By the way, happy anniversary."  
  
"Thank you Harmony." Angel said. Harmony nodded and walked out. He looked back at Buffy. "You gonna be ok?"  
  
"Yeah. I just miss him." Buffy said, wiping away all of her tears.  
  
"I do too."  
  
"I checked in on him about a week ago. Not physically, of course, but I wanted to know what he was doing with his new life." She laughed. "He's playing football for Notre Dame and planning on being a doctor."  
  
Angel laughed. "I won the bet."  
  
"It's redundant! You can't win a bet that was technically never made."  
  
"You still owe me my reward."  
  
"I gave that to you last night. Besides, I got what I wanted too. He's going to be a doctor. So you have to pay up too."  
  
"I did last night."  
  
"Didn't count."  
  
The intercom buzzed on the phone. Angel pressed the button. "Yeah?"  
  
"There's a Detective Griffin for you." Harmony said.  
  
"Put him through." Angel left it on speakerphone so Buffy could hear. "This is Buffy and Angel."  
  
"Yeah, this is Dave Griffin, L.A.P.D. Thought you'd wanna know, we found a body this morning. Vampire attack. Looks like he was.."  
  
"Hold on." Buffy looked out the window. "Harmony! We got it!"  
  
"Oh. Right. Sorry." Harmony said. She hung up.  
  
"Go ahead Mr. Griffin."  
  
"We found a body at the city dump wrapped in a laundry bag. He was a client of yours. He had one your cards on him."  
  
"And you're calling us why?" Angel asked.  
  
"Uh.. You own us."  
  
"We do?"  
  
"Yes sir. We're having the body brought into Ms. Burkle's lab right now."  
  
"Good thank you."  
  
"His name was Toby Dupree."  
  
"Toby Dupree?" Buffy asked. Angel looked up at her. "Thank you Mr. Griffin." She punched a button, cutting the phone off, and stood up, beginning to pace. "Damn it."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Toby Dupree? Ring a bell?"  
  
"Vaguely."  
  
"He's our liaison for the summit!"  
  
"This isn't good."  
  
Buffy punched a button. "Gunn, grab Wesley and get in here." She hung up.  
  
A minute later, the two men were hurrying to the office. "Do you know what this is about?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Perhaps one of the Vinjis set down a teacup improperly." Wesley said.  
  
"Worse." Buffy said, opening the door. "Just got off the phone with the L.A.P.D. They found a body."  
  
"Where? Did he say where?" Harmony asked.  
  
"City dump, wrapped in a laundry bag."  
  
"And the police called you two because..?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Apparently, we own them." Angel said.  
  
"Right. Makes sense." Gunn said.  
  
"Of course." Wesley said.  
  
"Well, that, and they found our card on the victim. It was the liaison between the feuding clans." Buffy said.  
  
"Toby Dupree?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Toby! That was his.." Harmony noticed the others turn their attention to her. "Name. Really? Huh. You don't hear unusual names like that anymore."  
  
"We're gonna have to do some serious damage control." Buffy said.  
  
"You think? Demon rights activist gets munched by a vamp on our watch?" Gunn said.  
  
"No telling how the clans are gonna take this. Superstitious as they are, they may see it as an omen or.." Wesley said.  
  
"So, this cop? He doesn't have any actual real info, right?" Harmony asked.  
  
"It is possible that someone's trying to send a message, derail the summit."  
  
"Ooh! Yeah! That must be it! The derailing thing. That-that makes sense. Right?"  
  
"We need to call the clans." Angel said.  
  
"Let's get on it."  
  
A few minutes later, Buffy and Angel sat at their desk having a conference call on the speakerphone while Gunn and Wesley stood by. The demons spoke their demon language, and Gunn translated.  
  
"The Vinji clan is deeply concerned about this turn of events." Gunn said.  
  
"Perhaps if you say something." Wesley said to Angel.  
  
"Oh, no. I'm not ready." Angel said.  
  
"Look, just tell them that the summit can proceed as planned, and they shouldn't, you know, start skinning each other." Buffy said. Gunn spoke and clicked at the phone and the Vinji leader said something that didn't sound so good. "Tell 'em we're on it."  
  
Gunn spoke and clicked again, then Angel got caught up and said, "Veel mahnkshay." And clicked his tongue. Gunn glanced at him with a not so good look as the Vinji leader went into a rant. He spoke and clicked at the phone and then, irritated, pressed the buttons to end the call. Angel sighed heavily.  
  
"What happened to you not saying anything?" Wesley asked.  
  
"I got caught up. Obviously a mistake." Angel said.  
  
"Forgive and forget, I say! It's the Golden Rule." Harmony said.  
  
Gunn shook his head, leaning on the table. "These guys are not gonna forgive, and they're definitely not gonna forget until we figure out.."  
  
"Who killed Dupree." Buffy finished. "We know. Fred'll be able to tell us some more soon. Dupree's body should be in the lab by now."  
  
"Lab? Our lab?" Harmony turned and left quickly.  
  
"That was fast." Gunn said.  
  
"Shouldn't take long to track down the vampire who did this, set things right." Angel said.  
  
Buffy glanced at her watch. "We have about an hour until the clans get here. I'm going to go freshen up and make sure I don't look disrespectful by looking bad. Wouldn't want to cause any more problems."  
  
"I'm gonna go with." Angel said, standing up and following.  
  
***  
  
The demon tribal leaders were talking to Buffy, Angel, and Gunn in the lobby. The Vinji leader was screeching at them. "What?" Angel asked.  
  
Buffy grabbed Gunn's arm. "What is she saying?"  
  
"That want to walk." Gunn said. He spoke and slicked to the leaders. "I told her.."  
  
"I got the general idea. What do they want?"  
  
The Vinji leader screeched some more and Gunn looked at her. "That ain't good."  
  
"What?" Angel asked.  
  
"Seems it's bad luck to get things going before we cough up a little eye for an eye. Seeing as though we don't have the actual bad guy, they're willing to accept a substitute."  
  
"They want a blood sacrifice? Harmony!"  
  
"A person makes one little mistake.." Harmony said, walking around a corner.  
  
"Find Fred. I want to know what she got off the body."  
  
"Fred? Right. I'm on it." She walked off.  
  
Buffy looked at Gunn. "Let's get them into the conference room, huh? We're making a scene."  
  
A few minutes later, the demon clans were in the conference room speaking in their language. They hissed and clicked angrily at each other spoke with their hands outstretched in clawing motions, their hissing and growling sounds and their body language were getting progressively more aggressive. Buffy, Angel, and Gunn looked on as the demon leaders hissed, growled, screeched, and clicked at one another.  
  
"Funny how that wasn't on the tape." Angel murmured to Buffy.  
  
"They're still demanding a.." Gunn started, but the Vinji leader clicked at him as well as the Sahrvin leader.  
  
Suddenly, Harmony and a girl, Tamika Buffy thought was her name, crashed through the glass wall of the conference room near the head of the table. Harmony picked Tamika up off the floor, threw her onto the table, reared back, and staked her with a chopstick. Tamika vanished into a cloud of dust. The demon leaders looked at Harmony.  
  
"I didn't mean to do that yet." Harmony said. The demon leaders looked at one another, calmer now. They clicked passively at each other. The leaders sat down, smiling, and looked at Buffy and Angel. "I.. can explain?" The demons all turned to face Buffy and Angel, who crossed their arms disapprovingly.  
  
***  
  
Fred, Rudy, and Lorne were sitting in Buffy and Angel's office holding ice packs to their heads. "You should have just come to me or Angel." Buffy said.  
  
"Gee, I wish I would have thought of telling her that." Fred said.  
  
"I'm really, really sorry, you guys." Harmony said. "I totally wouldn't have hit you over the head and put you in the closet if I didn't have a really good reason. It's just.. I was scared, and.. I know you never wanted me as your guys' assistant, and.. Ok, I made some bad choices. I mean, it's not like I have a soul. I have to try a lot harder."  
  
Gunn walked out of the conference room, closing the door behind him. "How's it going in there?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Well, so far, no heads are rolling. How 'bout in here?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Harmony could've handled it better, but she didn't kill anyone." Fred said.  
  
"You'll be clean in 2 days, but I'll be watchin' you." Rudy said, walking out.  
  
"I know." Harmony said. "He won't have to be watching cause.. I'll just pack up my desk." She turned to leave.  
  
"Harmony?" She turned back to Buffy. "Just bring us some coffee."  
  
***  
  
Buffy and Angel walked into their penthouse, ready to collapse onto the bed and go to sleep. When they turned the lights on, everyone jumped out of their hiding places and yelled, "Surprise! Happy anniversary!"  
  
The two looked at their friends, then at each other, and walked into the bedroom closing the door behind them. Dawn looked at the door pitifully. "I bought a cake."  
  
"Ah, don't worry about it." Gunn said. "They're just tired. We'll get em tomorrow."  
  
Buffy and Angel lay curled up together on their bed, peacefully sleeping in their clothes. They were just way too exhausted from all the stress of the past few days to care about anything but falling asleep. 


	20. Soul Purpose p1

Chapter 20  
  
Angel was lying on the floor of the darkened stage, coughing and spitting up blood. He gasped as he pulled the stake out of his shoulder. Finally, with a pained grunt, Angel rolled over and sat up, looking at Spike, who was standing in front of the lit pedestal staring at a golden chalice. Spike grabbed the cup.  
  
"Spike.." Angel said. "Spike, wait. That's not a prize you're holding. It's not a trophy. It's a burden. It's a cr.."  
  
"Blah, blah, blah." Spike said. He helped Buffy to her feet and held her hand. "Give it a rest, hero. I win, you lose, and all your talking's not gonna change that."  
  
"It's not your destiny. It's mine."  
  
"Still can't accept it? It's pathetic, really. All your life's been a lie. Everything you've done.. the lives you've saved, dreams of redemption.. all that pain.. all of it for nothing. Cause this.. was never about you. Cheers." Spike drank from the cup.  
  
"No!"  
  
Spike drank deeply from the cup as warm light shined upon him from above. Upon finishing drinking, Spike exhaled sharply, straightening up his body and letting the cup fall from his hands. The cup clanged as it hit the ground and rolled at Spike's feet. Angel watched with a pained expression on his face as Spike basked in the light. When the light faded from Spike, Angel started groaning, gasping, and screaming painfully as his face disintegrated, burning into a fiery nothingness.  
  
Angel awoke with a start, panting and in a cold sweat. He looked around, realizing he was sitting in his office chair at his and Buffy's desk in his and Buffy's office at Wolfram & Hart. Buffy.. He looked around, but there was no sign of her.  
  
***  
  
"I say we make a pre-emptive strike. Remove him before he and his followers go underground." Wesley said.  
  
"Assassination?" Buffy asked.  
  
"We're talking about an evil warlock here. The longer we wait, the more powerful he becomes."  
  
"I don't plan on waiting. Do you plan on waiting Buffy?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Really? What is your plan?"  
  
"We open a can of Machiavelli on his ass."  
  
"It's Matchabelli, Einstein, and it doesn't come in a can." Harmony said, sitting behind her desk.  
  
"What you two're proposing could take weeks." Wesley said. "We can't afford the delay."  
  
"48 hours, maximum." Buffy said as they walked into her and Angel's office. "There are at least 2 initiates to his inner circle who'd jump at the chance to overthrow him."  
  
"You're overlooking the tactical merits of my assassination scenario."  
  
"Guys.." Angel said.  
  
"Hey, in mine and Gunn's plan, he still wakes up dead by Thursday."  
  
"Guys!" Buffy, Wesley, and Gunn stopped arguing and looked at Angel. "Other C.E.O., right here, in the dark."  
  
"Sorry, sweetie." Buffy handed Angel a file. "Lucien Drake. He's a warlock."  
  
"An evil warlock and a cult leader." Gunn said. "Got over a thousand followers. We're pretty sure they sold most of their children down the Hades river in return for some serious demonic mojo."  
  
"One more religious fringe group stockpiling weapons, but in this case, the weapons are black magicks of the most dangerous variety." Wesley said.  
  
"And you want Wolfram & Hart to stop them." Angel said.  
  
"Not so much stopping as.." Gunn said.  
  
"As redirecting their energies." Wesley finished.  
  
"See, a cult this big has alliances, connections." Buffy said. "If we confront them directly, it could be very bad for business."  
  
"But if we eliminate their leader covertly.."  
  
"Then they spend the next billing cycle fighting among themselves to hack out the new pecking order." Gunn said.  
  
"Uh-huh.. So are we doing this because it's right.. or because it's cost- effective?" Angel asked.  
  
"Uh, well, a little of both actually."  
  
"Yes, oddly, once again we find ourselves in a bit of a gray.." Wesley said.  
  
"Don't.." Angel said.  
  
"Area."  
  
"Say that! Can we just get through one damn day without saying that?" Angel sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Ok. Explain it to me again."  
  
Buffy allowed Wesley and Gunn to do the talking most of the time. She was staring at Angel. He didn't look very well at all. A few minutes later, Fred walked in as Gunn was saying, "I know how these people think, Wes!"  
  
"And I know what we have in our arsenal, Charles!" Wesley said.  
  
"Guys, I can hear you out in the lobby." Fred said. She walked between them to hand the file to Angel. "The week's lab reports, Angel."  
  
"Fred, doesn't the Wolfram & Hart satellite have lethal capability?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I mean, couldn't we eliminate a target from the air, untraceably?"  
  
"Well, we do have an orbital-range microwave cannon up there. Focuses the satellite's communications signals into a pinpoint beam. It can raise the temperature of the targeted area 1,000 degrees in less than 5 seconds. So, yeah, in theory, we could. That is, if we did that sort of thing. Do we do that sort of thing?"  
  
"It might be the thing to do."  
  
"Think someone won't notice us firing a sci-fi death ray from outer space?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Well, actually, the beam reads like cell phone static on most atmospheric scanning equipment." Fred said.  
  
"Let's kill them all." Angel said.  
  
"What?" Fred asked.  
  
"Warlocks, minions.. they're all evil. Sold their kids to the devil. Let's just wipe 'em all out. We got the power to do that, right?"  
  
"Yes, but Angel.." Wesley said.  
  
"Why don't we? Let's just get back to the basics: Good versus evil. Offing the monsters where we find them."  
  
"We have to tread light here, Angel." Gunn said. "We can't afford to.."  
  
"Baby, are you all right?" Buffy asked, walking over to her husband.  
  
"I'm just.. tired." Angel said.  
  
Buffy nodded. "Gunn, get a meeting with your best Judas. Feel him out, but don't tip your hand. Any hint of him carrying word back to Drake, we might as well go with Wes' plan." She turned back to Angel. "Are you sure you're all right? You don't look so good."  
  
"Yeah, I, uh, just.. need to get some rest."  
  
"Go. Rest. And maybe sleep in tomorrow." Fred said.  
  
"No, there's too much on our schedule."  
  
"There's nothing we can't handle." Buffy said.  
  
"Yeah, anything earth-shattering comes up, we know where to find you." Gunn said.  
  
"No. We're going to leave Angel alone. There are two C.E.O.s here and only one of them is functioning at 100. I can deal with this just as well as Angel can. You guys, go do your thing. I'll be back down in a few." Buffy led Angel over to the elevator and helped him in.  
  
Angel took her hands and gently moved them aside as they got off the elevator. "I can handle it."  
  
"You're barely on your feet. Come on." She pulled him towards the bedroom.  
  
"I, uh, I think.. I-I think I'm sick."  
  
"Vampires don't get sick."  
  
"I don't feel right." Angel groaned as he sat on the bed.  
  
"Well, that's understandable. You've got a lot on your mind. Must be hard adjusting to the new situation."  
  
"Situation?"  
  
"Finally coming to grips with the truth.. that you're irrelevant."  
  
"What? Buffy.."  
  
"It's difficult to face, I know. But things could've been much worse. Spike's arrival was really unexpected." Buffy took Mr. Pointy out of her waistband. "It'll make this a lot easier."  
  
"Wha-what? What are you.." Buffy staked Angel in the chest.  
  
Angel awoke in his and Buffy's apartment, sitting on the edge of their bed, gasping. "Sweetie?" Buffy asked, kneeling in front of him and touching his cheek. "You're burning up."  
  
"You just.." Angel groaned.  
  
"Come on." Buffy took off his shoes, moved his legs under the covers, and pulled them up over his chest. "Sleep love." She kissed his forehead. "I'll be back in a little while." She tiptoed out of the room and almost screamed when she turned around and found Dawn standing right behind her. "Jesus Dawn!"  
  
"Sorry. What's going on?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Angel doesn't feel good. If I catch you bothering him, I'll take your car away and make you ride the bus to school."  
  
"I was just coming to see if you guys were home."  
  
"Dawn, will you just stay in your room tonight and try not to be loud? I'll bring you pizza when I get back."  
  
"You're going back to work?"  
  
"I have to."  
  
"No. Stay here. You're always working."  
  
"Dawn.."  
  
"Please, Buffy?"  
  
The Slayer sighed. "Yeah, ok. I'll call Wesley and tell him, Fred, and Gunn to head on home."  
  
"Do we still get pizza?"  
  
"Yeah. We'll still get pizza."  
  
***  
  
Buffy sat at her desk the next day looking at the relic that Eve had given Wesley that morning. "She didn't say much else, only that it needed to be done as soon as possible." Wesley said.  
  
Gunn knocked on the door and walked in. "You guys are gonna want to see this." He handed papers to Buffy. "Been getting reports of a vigilante prowling the streets last night. A vampire, apparently."  
  
"Angel never left the penthouse. I was with him all last night." Buffy said. "'Vigilante reportedly killed 2 vampires at a gas station, then asked the women he saved if they'd, quote, like to get a bottle of hootch and listen to some Sex Pistols records with him.'"  
  
"Are we sure Angel's just tired and not, um.. crazy?" Fred asked.  
  
"Read the description." Gunn said.  
  
"'Medium build, black leather coat.. platinum blond hair."" Buffy looked up. "Spike? I thought he went to Europe."  
  
***  
  
Angel was panting in his bed, still feverish, when he heard other people panting and groaning in his bed. He turned to see Spike beside him, naked, lying on top of Buffy, grinding their bodies together rhythmically. "Spike!?"  
  
"Keep it down, mate. You've got something on your shirt there." Spike said.  
  
"Buffy!?"  
  
"Every time I say the word prom, you get grouchy." Buffy said to Spike.  
  
"Won't be long now." Spike said.  
  
"You're taking Buffy to the prom?" Angel asked.  
  
"Can you say jumping the gun? I kill my goldfish." Buffy said to Spike.  
  
"Buffy, I thought we were going to.."  
  
"Shh. I can't be a marathon man with all your yammering." Spike said.  
  
Angel awoke in the bed with a start. He was alone and rolled over and sighed in relief. His wife wasn't banging Spike with him in the bed next to them. He sat up, hanging his feet off the edge of the bed. After a minute, he stood and headed down to the office lobby.  
  
Fred noticed him and walked up. "Hey! Look who it is. How you feeling?"  
  
"Better. Thanks." Angel said.  
  
"Uh.. Angel.." She looked at his feet.  
  
Angel looked down and realized he'd forgotten his shoes. "Oh, I.."  
  
"Always takes me a few days to get back in the swing of things, myself. Um.. you should put on a clean shirt, though."  
  
"Hey, guys. Come on. You'll miss it." Gunn ran up to them and Fred followed him to the movie-theater style "Refreshments" stand where Harmony's desk would normally be and they got popcorn and drinks.  
  
"Miss what?" Angel asked. He followed Fred and Gunn into his and Buffy's darkened office to see the team and others from the office staring out the windows. "What's everyone.." He looked around and realized they ware staring at a fiery downtown Los Angeles. "Oh, my God."  
  
"Hey.. down in front!" Lorne complained.  
  
"Yeah, Angel. You're blocking the apocalypse." Buffy said.  
  
"I have to do something. Buffy, we have to get out there!" Angel said.  
  
"Don't worry. Spike'll take care of it. You should go back to bed."  
  
"Or at least go put some clean clothes on." Lorne said. "You got a little something on your shirt there, babe." Angel looked down at a bloody stake sticking out of his heart. When he looked back up, Fred was holding a cake that was decorated with a scene of downtown L.A. on fire, with the words "Way to go Spike!" written in red over the buildings. The whole gang was singing merrily.  
  
"Speech!" Wesley called.  
  
"Speech!" They all intoned.  
  
"Well, this is, uh.." Angel turned to see Spike standing next to him with Buffy attached to his waist, smiling up at him proudly like she usually did to Angel. "Thank you, everyone. Um.. I don't know what to say. I'm just a.. working-class bloke fulfilling his destiny with a beautiful, devoted blonde at his side. It was nothing, really."  
  
"Nothing?" Buffy said. "Spike, baby, you single-handedly ended Armageddon and turned the world into a beautiful, happily-ever-after, candy mountain place where all our dreams come true."  
  
The others gestured toward the window with a cascading gesture. Outside, downtown Los Angeles was depicted as a fairytale castle with blue skies and green hills and bright sunshine. Spike smiled. "Beautiful, isn't it?"  
  
"The living end. And now.. it's time for your reward." Gunn said.  
  
"Yes!" Wesley said. "Your reward!"  
  
"But I didn't do this for a reward." Spike said.  
  
"Well, that's why you're getting one." Buffy said. The crowd oohed and ahhed as a blue fairy floated into the room toward Spike. "After all, anyone who saves the universe from eternal bloodshed, horror, and misery deserves to get what they've always wanted."  
  
"Deserves to become a real boy." Fred said.  
  
"And so you shall." The blue fairy waved her magic wand over Spike's head, sprinkling him with glittery gold fairy dust.  
  
Spike breathed in and touched his chest. "My heart. It's.. it's beating again! Listen!"  
  
Buffy laid her head on Spike's chest with a smile. "You're human, Spike! You're alive!"  
  
"Ooh! I wanna hear!" Gunn walked up and listened to Spike's heart.  
  
"Let's hear it for Spike!" Wesley called.  
  
"Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Whoo!" The all cried.  
  
Angel looked down at his chest, where he was holding a hand over his still heart. His outfit had changed from suave C.E.O. styles to short-sleeved button-up geek chiq. Even his tie was too short. He was standing beside the mail cart. Consigned to his fate, Angel turned away slowly, sadly, and pushed the mail cart down the hallway.  
  
***  
  
Buffy stood outside Spike's apartment with Wesley and Gunn. The vampire opened the door. "Well, look who's come to call.. Crockett and Tubbs and their big, bad Slayer pal." He walked toward the refrigerator. "Come on in. Out of the cold into the damp. Suppose I should have expected a visit from Big Brother's L.A. Branch sooner or later. Can I get you a frosty?"  
  
"What are you up to, Spike?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Woman gets right to the meat of the existential nut, doesn't she?"  
  
"Just a little concerned. You don't call. You don't write. What's your angle? Last time we saw you, you were booking a one-way to the continent."  
  
"Change of plans. Change of heart. Changed me mind."  
  
"Sounds like you've been busy."  
  
"We're getting reports of a vigilante who matches your description." Wesley said.  
  
"Yes.. that's what you people do, isn't it? You get reports. And you sign checks. You read memos. Here's to the corporate teat. How'd you find me?"  
  
"Wasn't too hard. Put a couple of our psychics on it this afternoon." Gunn said.  
  
"One of the advantages of the corporate teat." Wesley said.  
  
"What can I do for you? Need me to help you collate something?" Spike asked.  
  
"From what we hear.. you're fighting the good fight these days." Buffy said. "We figure that's our territory."  
  
"Is that what this is about? You're hurt 'cause I stepped on your toesies?"  
  
"Not at all. We're wondering why you left in the first place."  
  
"If you want to save the world, we've got the resources to help you do it." Wesley said.  
  
"No offense, Mr. Vader, but I've got no itch to join the evil empire." Spike said.  
  
"It's different. You know it. We've changed things." Buffy said.  
  
"Look.. I told you once and I'll tell you again. A place like that doesn't change.. not from the inside. Not from the out. You sign on there, it changes you. Puts things in your head. Spins your compass needle around till you can't cross the street without tripping the proverbial old lady and stepping on her glasses. And it's not like I wasn't there, like I wasn't watching you. Had to haunt the damn place. Remember?"  
  
"Things aren't that cut-and-dried, Spike. We're making a difference. We're just.. playing by a new set of rules."  
  
"So what? You want me to.. put on a suit, come play with you?"  
  
"Something like that."  
  
"I can't believe Angel would sign off on that. Unless.. he doesn't know you're here, does he? Hedging our bets, are we?"  
  
"That's not how it is."  
  
"And the compass needle keeps spinning. And the world gets murkier and murkier." 


	21. Soul Purpose p2

Chapter 21  
  
Buffy walked out of the elevator with Gunn and Wesley right behind her. Fred walked up to them. "Oh! Hey! Did you talk to Spike?"  
  
"We did." Buffy said.  
  
"What'd he say?"  
  
"Oh, you know.. stuff." They walked into her and Angel's office.  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Apparently we're not good enough for him." Wesley said.  
  
"Thinks we sold out." Gunn said.  
  
"We didn't sell out. We're changing the system from the inside." Fred protested.  
  
"You know, when you say it out loud, it sounds really naive." Buffy said, sitting down behind her desk.  
  
"Well, shouldn't we tell Angel about this?"  
  
"Tell him what? That Spike's hung out his shingle and is open for business in our town? I don't think he needs to hear it right now."  
  
"It's not like we need to protect him. I mean, has anyone even heard from him today?"  
  
"We're not going to bug him. He needs rest. I checked on him earlier and he was asleep. I don't want to wake him up. He gets very cranky if he gets waken up from a deep sleep."  
  
***  
  
Angel sat up in bed with a start. There was a piano playing in the background. He turned to see Lorne dressed up in old-west style, complete with suspenders and mustache. "Lorne?"  
  
"Oh, round these parts, folks call me Honky-Tonk." Lorne spit into a spittoon. "Hey, why so down in the dumpster, partner? You look like you just had to put down your last puppy." Harmony, dressed like a waitress at the Copacabana, brought a drink to Lorne.  
  
"I think.. I think I'm lost."  
  
"Order a drink!"  
  
"Everything hurts."  
  
"Now you're gettin' it. Everything hurts, and then we die. Or in your case, everything hurts and.. then you go on.. and on.. and on.. and on."  
  
"I don't know what to do."  
  
"Why don't you give me an earful of them pretty pipes of yours? Let me suss it out. Well, sing out, Louise." Angel tried to sing, but only made faint squeaks. The room was eerily silent.  
  
"I told you he was empty." Fred said. Angel looked over to see Buffy, Fred, Wesley, and Gunn sitting at a bar table watching him and Lorne.  
  
"Yes, but this is ridiculous!" Wesley said. "We paid good money for this. We paid blood for this."  
  
"Crowd's turning on ya, sport." Lorne said.  
  
Gunn snarled, revealing his silvery cat-eyes as he hissed angrily at Angel. Eve walked up to the table where Buffy, Fred, Wes, and Gunn were sitting. She looked at Angel. "You poor thing. You're really suffering, aren't you?"  
  
"You still got that thing on your shirt?" Lorne asked.  
  
Angel looked down to see a blue slimy creature was on his chest, munching away. He put his left hand over it and pulled it off of his chest. The instant Angel pulled the creature off of his chest, he awoke with a fright. He was still holding the creature in his hand. It screeched and he squeezed it to death, still gasping from the pain.  
  
"Wow. You killed junior." Angel turned to see Eve standing at his bedroom door holding a box.  
  
"Eve?" Angel asked.  
  
"I'm not here, Angel. You're dreaming. But don't worry. The dream's almost over." Eve opened the box, letting out a substantially larger blue creature of the same sort that was on Angel before.  
  
Angel groaned and panted in his bed as Eve stood by, watching the melon- sized blue creature crawl up Angel's body. She smirked as she turned to walk away. He finally mustered the strength to knock the creature off the bed. "No!" Angel fell out of the other side of the bed and crawled painfully across the floor towards the desk. He reached for the phone, but couldn't reach. He tugged at the phone cord, pulling the phone off the hook, but fell over in exhaustion. The creature crawled on his chest.  
  
Then, Angel was sitting outside in a sunny, grassy meadow in a comfy leather chair. "This is really nice." Angel turned to see Buffy walking up to him in a country sundress, her hair softly flowing around her face. Fred, Wesley, Gunn, Dawn, and Lorne were following close behind her.  
  
"You can stay as long as you like. Stay forever." Wesley said.  
  
Buffy sat on the chair's arm, beside Angel, and stroked the back of his head, playing with his hair. "No.. there's so much work to do."  
  
"It's fine. We got it covered." Buffy said.  
  
"But I'm not supposed to be here."  
  
"No fighting, Angel. Time to let freedom ring. Let yourself go."  
  
"But I'm not finished."  
  
"You are if you want to be. It'll be fine. Great, actually. All you have to do is stop caring. Just.." Buffy threw her head back in a painful, screeching scream. "Aah!" The rest of the gang threw their heads up and screamed too.  
  
***  
  
Spike reached down, grabbing the blue creature on Angel's chest, pulling it off of him, and threw it across the room, smashing it into a wall and killing it. "That'll be a bitch of a clean-up."  
  
"Spike?" Angel asked, looking up painfully.  
  
"No need to thank me. Just helping the helpless." Spike said.  
  
Angel groaned weakly on the floor, watching Spike leave. A few minutes later, Buffy ran upstairs and burst into the room. "Angel!?" She saw him laying on the floor. "Angel! Oh my God!" She fell down next to him and touched his cheek, laying his head in her lap. "Baby?"  
  
He reached up and took her hand. "Hi."  
  
"Hi." She kissed his forehead. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for you. I didn't know what was wrong. I just thought.."  
  
"It's ok."  
  
***  
  
Wesley walked out of the bedroom, wiping his hands on a hand towel, addressing Angel, Buffy, Dawn, Fred, Gunn and Lorne in the living room. "It was a Selminth parasite. Its teeth inject an anesthetic, making the host oblivious to its presence. You'd never know you had it on you." Angel drank a glass of blood. "Pumps neurotoxins into the body causing paralysis, hallucinations, fever dreams."  
  
Angel looked at Eve, who was standing behind Wesley. "It seemed.. real. All of it." He looked at Fred. "You were dissecting me, taking things out of me, and there was this..bear." Then Lorne. "You called yourself Honky- Tonk, tried to get me to sing, but.." Then Gunn. "You were big with the heckling."  
  
"Uh, sorry." Gunn said.  
  
"And Buffy.. You were with Spike.. A lot."  
  
"Ew. As if." Buffy said. "I'm a one vampire kinda gal."  
  
"So, if this parasite continued pumping its toxins into Angel.." Fred said.  
  
"He would have been stuck in a permanent vegetative state." Wesley said.  
  
"Well, good thing Spike swooped in and saved the day." Dawn said. "How did he even know you were in trouble?"  
  
"Didn't say." Angel said.  
  
"What I want to know is how that thing even got in here in the first place." Buffy said.  
  
"We're checking the firm's storage facilities." Fred said. "It's possible that a specimen escaped or.."  
  
Angel looked at Eve. "You. You brought it."  
  
"Me?" Eve asked.  
  
"You were here."  
  
"I had a cameo in your little dream sequence? That's so sweet."  
  
"You put the big one on me after I killed the other one."  
  
"The other one?" Buffy asked. "Angel, sweetie, there was only one."  
  
"No."  
  
"Maybe you were confusing reality with your hallucinations?" Wesley suggested.  
  
"Uh-uh." Angel stood. "Changed your clothes."  
  
"Yeah. I do that sometimes.. after a long day." Eve said.  
  
"But you didn't change your earrings. You were wearing those in my hallucination.. except.. I haven't seen you for days."  
  
"I've worn them before. Hey, I can't be held responsible for how you dress me in your fantasies."  
  
Buffy stood and walked over to Eve. "Keep dreaming Psycho Skipper. One: Angel's fantasies are reserved for one gal and you're not her. Two: You did change your clothes. And three: I've never seen those earrings before today. I'm pretty good at remembering stuff like that."  
  
"What is it exactly you think I.."  
  
"Don't know, Eve." Angel said. "But I'm pretty sure the senior partners didn't give Buffy and I the reins to their law firm just to turn me into a vegetable. Playing your own game here? What do you think the partners'll do to you after they find out about your little extracurricular activities?"  
  
"So things aren't going your way, and you're looking for someone outside your little circle to blame." Eve walked to the elevator. "Here's a thought. Maybe you should try looking inward.. Unless you don't like what you see." The elevator doors closed.  
  
Buffy and Angel stared angrily after Eve as she left. The others stared suspiciously at her. After a minute, Buffy turned to the others. "I don't know about you guys, but this has been one hell of a day. I vote R and R, how about you?"  
  
"Fine with me." Dawn said.  
  
"Anyone hungry for Italian?" Fred asked.  
  
"Oh me! Can I go with Fred, Buffy?"  
  
Buffy looked at Angel. He smiled slightly. "Go ahead. It's ok with me."  
  
"It's cool with me too." Buffy said. She whispered in Angel's ear, "More alone time for us."  
  
He smiled as everyone filed out of the penthouse. Buffy sat him down on the couch and straddled his lap. She opened his shirt and looked down at the wound that the parasite thing had left. "How's it look, doc?" Angel asked.  
  
"I give it a few hours and you'll be good as new." She kissed him gently.  
  
"So, what was it like running Wolfram and Hart with no help?"  
  
"You know, I could get used to it." She held a straight face, but then cracked and smiled. "My God, I never want you to get sick or die because it's a lot of work being C.E.O. and having a whole other department to run on top of that."  
  
"I'll try not to get sucked on by any other thing except you."  
  
"At least my drugs are ones that won't kill you."  
  
"They might if you tease me too long."  
  
"Then I'll try not to." She kissed him tenderly. "It's good that we can keep the romance in our lives with everything going on around us."  
  
He brought her head back down and kissed her passionately. "It's good that you're not doing this with Spike."  
  
"I was really with Spike in your freaky hallucinations?" He nodded. "That's so gross. I was only with him like that once. And just for the record, I do regret that. It was a low point and he just happened to be there.."  
  
"Buffy, I don't care. I've got you now and I'm 100 percent sure that you're mine and no one else's."  
  
"Well, there is Johnny Depp.."  
  
"Oh, well he's ok."  
  
Buffy laughed and kissed Angel again, holding onto her husband tighter as he laid them down on the couch. 


	22. Damage

Chapter 22  
  
Buffy woke up in a sweat. She shot out of bed and looked around the dark room. Angel rubbed his face and sat up. The Slayer breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Hey.." She jumped slightly when Angel touched her shoulder. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Bed dream." Buffy said.  
  
"Prophetic?"  
  
"Not that I can tell. Just.. Freaky."  
  
"Are you sure you're ok?"  
  
Buffy glanced out the window at the sky that was breaking into morning and the city that had been awake long before. "I don't know."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I can't really explain it. There was a lot of blood and confusion and.. I think fear." She looked at her husband. "But it wasn't mine."  
  
Angel pulled her to his chest. "It's going to be ok."  
  
"No it's not. We have to go to work soon."  
  
***  
  
"Maybe we made a mistake coming here." Buffy said to Lorne and Wesley as Fred and Gunn walked in.  
  
"What's going on?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Oh, Buffy's having Slayer dreams again and parasite Eve, right on out the door." Lorne said.  
  
"You're firing her? I mean Eve."  
  
"Well, that's one option." Angel said.  
  
"A great one, considering she tried to kill my husband." Buffy said.  
  
"Ok, first, the parasite she allegedly sicked on you wasn't meant to be fatal." Gunn said.  
  
"No, just send you into a permanent hallucinogenic coma." Fred said.  
  
"And what's with the 'alleged'?" Angel asked. "You don't believe I know it was her?"  
  
"It's not about what I believe. It's about the evidence." Gunn said.  
  
"This isn't a courtroom, Gunn. Things work with a bit more immediacy in the real world." Wesley said.  
  
"She's liaison to the senior partners. You don't get to be that without serious juice. Move against her without solid proof and it could end in a long, bloody fight."  
  
"Ok, fine. I think I liked you better when you just wanted to hit people." Angel said.  
  
"Rational thought: it's an acquired taste."  
  
"Wait a minute. So, we're not going to snap Twiggy into little sticks?" Lorne asked.  
  
"Gunn's right. We can't risk it. Yet." Buffy said.  
  
"We'll restrict her access, keep a closer eye on what she's up to. Play her like she's been playing us." Gunn said.  
  
Harmony walked in. "Bosses, we just got a tip some looney's hatched from the bin."  
  
"A who did a what?" Buffy asked.  
  
"A girl over in the nuthouse went all Cuckoo's Nest, hacked up a couple of guards and went over the wall."  
  
"Really not our department, Harmony." Angel said.  
  
"Notify the authorities. Make sure they're on it." Wesley added.  
  
"Ok, but they better bring a priest. Looks like this chick's gone all kinds of exorcist." Harmony said.  
  
"Wait a minute. She's possessed?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Duh! Didn't I say that?"  
  
"I'll get a team together." Wesley said.  
  
"No. Wait." Buffy stood. "I don't want to go storming in with troops until we know what we've got here."  
  
"Buffy's right." Angel said. "I've seen a few of these possession cases. They have to be handled very carefully. Real finesse job."  
  
***  
  
The elevator bell dinged and Buffy and Angel walked out. They stepped off the elevators at the same time Spike did. "Oh." Spike looked at them. "Well, fancy this. Bitty slug I saved you from scramble your brains after all? Come to check yourself in?"  
  
"Spike.." Buffy said.  
  
"What are you doing here, Spike?" Angel asked.  
  
"Didn't get the memo? Hero of the people now." Spike said.  
  
"Oh, then go and annoy them."  
  
"When I'm done. Heard one of the simples went for a stroll."  
  
"And we'll get her back without your help."  
  
"Goody for you, cause, uh, not offering it."  
  
"Look, shouldn't you be out in the streets, you know, protecting the city from people like you?"  
  
"Go where I'm needed."  
  
"Well, which isn't here."  
  
The nurse looked up. "Gentlemen, may I help you?" Buffy stepped out from behind the men. "And ma'am."  
  
Buffy smiled. "Hi.."  
  
A doctor walked out behind the nurse. "Can I help you?"  
  
"Other way around, doc. I'm.." Spike started.  
  
"Actually, you can ignore him." Buffy glared at Spike. "We're here to get your patient back." Angel handed a card to the doctor. "I'm Buffy and that's my husband Angel. We're from Wolfram & Hart."  
  
"Lawyers? I already told the police everything I know." The doctor said.  
  
"Well, can we go over it again, just in case you left out any details?"  
  
"What she said. But with a bit more of a threat at the end." Spike said. Buffy whacked his stomach. "Bloody hell woman!"  
  
"Shush."  
  
"Right this way." The doctor said.  
  
***  
  
The doctor told them everything about what had happened. The girl's name was Dana and she's been like this most of her life. Buffy was looking over drawings Dana had in her room. They were bright, vibrant, and terribly disturbing. One picture showed a wolf-like monster growling. Another showed a cave-woman on her knees before a huge fiery monster. Spike looked around and saw the walls were covered with such drawings of monsters.  
  
"She was a special case." Dr. Rabinaw said. "Her family was murdered in their home when she was 10. Whoever did it took Dana.. and tortured her for months. She was found one day naked and bleeding, wandering the streets. Barely functional, nearly catatonic ever since."  
  
"Looks like she snapped out of it." Spike said.  
  
"Several months ago her condition changed. Increasing levels of agitation accompanied by explosive outbursts of inhuman strength." That struck a nerve with Buffy.  
  
"Right. Demon possession."  
  
"That's ridiculous."  
  
"You're not helping, Spike." Angel said.  
  
"No, I'm doing. You can hang out for the show-and-tell-me-nothing. I got a demon needs repossessing." Spike grabbed a drawing off the wall and walked out. "Ta."  
  
"Sorry. He's.. is pathological idiot an actual condition?"  
  
"May I suggest that you stop your friend? If he finds Dana, he's gonna end up dead like the others." Dr. Rabinaw said.  
  
"Yeah, but he'll just end up comin' back." The doctor nodded and left. Angel looked around. "What isn't he tellin' me?"  
  
"Rabinaw videoed all his sessions with her." The nurse said, walking in.  
  
"Show me." Angel followed the nurse out of the room.  
  
Buffy stayed behind to examine the drawings and try to find out why they all seemed so familiar to her. After a few minutes, she touched one of the pictures and let out a scream as the picture came to life in her mind. She knew this. Dana was a Slayer! When she opened her eyes, Angel was helping her to her feet. "Oh God! It's my fault those people were murdered by her."  
  
"What?" Angel asked.  
  
"Dana.. She's a Slayer! That picture.. All of them, I recognize them! Do you remember me telling you about the dreams I had before I found out they were about Slayers? Those pictures are them! And last night.. My dream was about Dana!"  
  
"I know. In the videos, she was yelling in all these different languages. Something about being Chosen. I didn't think you'd figure it out this way."  
  
"I have a bond with that poor girl. It's only natural that I find out this way." Buffy started. "We have to find Spike! She'll kill him."  
  
"How're we going to.."  
  
"I'll drive."  
  
***  
  
Spike landed face-down on the pavement outside the warehouse right as Buffy drove up in her and Angel's car. She stopped the car and got out as Spike slowly stood up. "What happened?" Angel asked.  
  
"Oh, I just thought I'd see what it was like to bounce off the pavement. Pretty much what I expected." Spike said.  
  
"Stay out of it. Tactical's on the way."  
  
"Oh, right. Sure, she'll hang around till they show up."  
  
"You should've waited."  
  
"Hey, keep your knickers on. Least now I know what we're dealin' with. It's a Chinese demon. Maybe a water dragon or one of those elemental thingies." Angel sighed and rolled his eyes, and walked away. "What?!"  
  
Both vampires looked around. "Where's Buffy?"  
  
The Slayer walked through the warehouse where Spike and Dana had obviously fought. "Dana?" She called out softly. There was no response. Buffy knew that the girl had long since left.  
  
***  
  
Buffy, Angel, and Spike walked out of the elevator. "A psychotic vampire slayer." Spike said.  
  
"How many times you gonna keep sayin' that?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Just tryin' to wrap my lobes around it. A psycho slayer."  
  
"And you let her get away."  
  
"At least I was tryin' to stop her."  
  
"Oh, how'd that work out?"  
  
"At least I know the game, now, don't I? I killed 2 slayers with my own hands and I almost took you too. Think I can handle one that's gone daft in the melon."  
  
"You're not handling anything, Spike. Ok? Wes contacted Giles. He's sending his top guy to help me retrieve her." They walked into the conference room.  
  
"Angel. Buffy.. We were just about to.." Wesley started.  
  
An additional person was waiting in the conference room. He turned around in his chair to reveal that he was Andrew. Buffy and Angel started. Andrew's hair was slightly longer and he was wearing a suit and tie and holding a pipe. "Spike!?"  
  
"Oh, for the love of.." Spike started.  
  
"Spike?" Andrew ran toward Spike, touching his shoulders. "It's you. It's really you! My therapist thought I was holding onto false hope, but.. I knew you'd come back. You're like.. you're like Gandalf the White, resurrected from the pit of the Balrog, more beautiful than ever. Ohh.. he's alive, Frodo. He's alive." Andrew turned to Buffy. "You look really great!" He went to hug her but Buffy held up her hand.  
  
"You touch me and I'll make you a woman." The Slayer said.  
  
"Hi Angel."  
  
"You know each other?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Uh, yeah. Um.. We-we saved the world together. Uh, so what happened? Last I heard, you went all pillar of fire down in the Hellmouth."  
  
"Could we save memory lane till after we contain this psychotic superpowered killing machine?" Angel asked.  
  
"We were just about to bring everyone up to speed on slayer mythology." Wesley said.  
  
"I'll take it from here, Pryce. Best they hear it from an expert." Andrew said.  
  
"Oh, right. Let the top man have a go." Spike said.  
  
"Please.. enlighten us." Wesley said.  
  
"Gather around and attend to a most unusual tale.." Andrew said. "A tale I like to call.. The Slayer of the Vampyrs. Eons ago, on the dark continent.."  
  
"Three creepy old guys wanted to fight evil." Buffy interrupted.  
  
"I was telling!"  
  
"Oh, shut up and sit down before I tie you to a chair again. They took a young girl, and they filled her with the power of a demon. The Powers figured out a way to get her powers to go down through the generations. Into every generation, a Slayer is born. One girl in all the world strong enough to fight the forces of darkness yada, yada, yada. Six months ago, Willow and I changed all of that. All the potentials become Slayers."  
  
"An army of slayers." Wesley said, looking at Buffy proudly. "Brilliant stratagem. But with the Watchers Council destroyed, how will these new slayers receive their necessary.."  
  
"Yeah. Sorry we didn't tell you. Giles and the others have been tracking down the newborn Slayers and training them.. But Dana, she's a glitch that no one could have predicted. Tortured, traumatized.. driven insane by Lord knows who. And then the dreams of demons and superpowers she's always had suddenly become real. The dreams of Slayers are usually just that.. dreams. But Dana's mental instability may be making them seem more real."  
  
"Explains why that skirt was yappin' at me in Chinese." Spike said. "Must've thought she was the Slayer I took out back in the Boxer Rebellion."  
  
"You mean the Slayer you murdered." Buffy shot back.  
  
"Well, I didn't have a soul back then, did I?"  
  
"Right, cause having one now is making such a difference." Angel said.  
  
"You corporates go ahead with your talky-talk. Anybody needs me, I'll be out doin' his and Buffy's job." Spike walked out.  
  
Angel followed. "Spike? You think this is a joke?"  
  
"Only if you're the punch line."  
  
"Look, we're the last 2 people that should be confronting her. Buffy should take this one. She and Dana are Slayers. Dana has every reason to hate us, and she's unstable. In her mind, there probably aren't any good vampires. She exists for one reason.. to destroy creatures like us."  
  
"Dance of death. Eternal struggle. Right. Got it."  
  
"You will.. when she's staking you in the heart."  
  
"What do you want me to do? Go all boo-hoo cause she got tortured and driven out of her gourd? Not like we haven't done worse back in the day."  
  
"Yeah, and it's somethin' I'm still payin' for."  
  
"And you should let it go, mate. It's startin' to make you look old."  
  
***  
  
Buffy paced the room. "Spike's right. We should be out there!"  
  
"Then what? Kill her? What's happening isn't her fault." Fred said.  
  
"But it's mine. I created her."  
  
"All right, look, we know that she's been sighted at these locations since her escape." Angel said. "Tactical's doin' a non-engagement sweep, but they'll have to cover over at least 60 blocks."  
  
"That'll take days if we're lucky." Fred said.  
  
"We have to narrow it down. Witnesses say it was like she was looking for something. We have to figure out what."  
  
"Why not start at the source?" Lorne said.  
  
"The asylum?" Wesley asked.  
  
"No. Where this started for her. She was abducted from home. Right?"  
  
"That was over 15 years ago." Angel said.  
  
"Houses have long memories, Angel cakes. You just gotta know how to get 'em to talk."  
  
"All right. Fine. Set it up. But let's get Andrew in on this, see if he knows.. anything."  
  
"Um, I don't think he's here." Fred said.  
  
"What? Where'd he go?" Angel looked around. "And where'd Buffy go?"  
  
***  
  
Buffy walked through the streets near where Dana was last spotted. She picked up the other Slayer's presence quickly and followed it. She smelled blood on the air and found Andrew laying in an alley. "Andrew!" She ran to him. "Are you ok?"  
  
"Spike.." Andrew said. "She got.. Spike."  
  
"Where'd she take him?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Damn it." Buffy stood and closed her eyes. She picked up Spike's scent and started to follow. It was amazing how living with a vampire for three years made her senses really heighten to new levels. Her senses led her to an abandoned warehouse that smelled like death and blood. She heard noises down in the basement and followed them. She found Dana punching a handless Spike.  
  
"Doesn't matter! Head and heart. Keep cutting till you see dust." Dana picked up her saw, but Buffy grabbed her and threw her across the room. Dana got to her feet.  
  
"Dana.. look, I'm here to help you. I'm just like you."  
  
"Can't hurt me. Not weak anymore."  
  
"That's right."  
  
"Strong. Slayer." Dana charged Buffy, kicking her in the chest. They fought in hand-to-hand combat, but they were evenly matched. They continued to trade punches and kicks, knocking over the little furniture that remained in the room. Buffy decided to stop holding back and she grabbed Dana around the neck from behind and held her tightly in a choke hold. Dana struggled, but Buffy was stronger than she was.  
  
Dana slipped into unconsciousness and Buffy gently laid her on the ground. "I'm sorry." Buffy stood and ran over to Spike. She touched his cheek gently and looked at his arms. "God.. Spike, can you hear me?"  
  
"Buff.." Spike slurred.  
  
Buffy undid his chains easily and allowed his head to fall onto her chest. She hugged him to her and pulled out her cell phone.  
  
***  
  
Angel and Wesley escorted Dana's gurney out of the basement along with a group of armed guards. Angel had hauled the team over to the warehouse when Buffy had called. Buffy walked up next to the gurney and touched Dana's forehead. "I'm sorry I did this to you."  
  
"Chain her into the van. I want armed guards ridin' with her in the back." Angel said. Andrew stepped from beside the ambulance. "That's all right, boys and Buffy. I'll take it from here."  
  
"What?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Totally appreciate your help on this one. Never could've found her without you, but you got enough problems of your own to worry about."  
  
"Get outta the way, Andrew."  
  
"She's a Slayer. That means she's ours."  
  
"Yeah. Sorry. Not how it works."  
  
"Load her up." Angel said. "Don't hesitate to tranq her if she so much as.."  
  
"No. I don't think you.. heard me." Andrew said, blocking the gurney. A group of young women walked out from the shadows to back up Andrew. "Think we're just gonna let you take her back to your evil stronghold? Well, as they say in Mexico.. No. We're not.. gonna.. let you."  
  
"She needs help. And I'm not turning her over to you." Buffy said.  
  
"You don't have a choice. Check the view screen. I got 12 Vampyr Slayers behind me, and not one of them has ever dated Angel. She's coming with us one way or another."  
  
"You're way outta your league, Andrew. I'll just clear this with Giles and Faith."  
  
"Where do you think my orders came from?" Buffy looked hurt, but only Angel noticed. "News flash: nobody in our camp trusts either of you anymore. Nobody. You guys work for Wolfram & Hart. Don't fool yourselves.. we're not on the same side. Thank you for your help.. but, uh.. we got it." Andrew and the girls walked away with Dana's gurney.  
  
"So that's it? You're just gonna let him take her?" Wesley said.  
  
"She's one of theirs." Buffy said, holding back tears. "They can handle it." The lone Slayer walked away from her husband and blended into the shadows. She let the tears flow freely now that she was away from everyone. This was the most unexpected news she had ever heard. She knew her friends and Giles didn't really approve, but she had never thought in a million years that they would stop trusting her.  
  
***  
  
Later that night, Buffy walked to Spike's hospital room. Angel was in there talking to him. "Andrew double-crossed us?" Spike asked. "That's a good move. Hope for the little ponce yet. Though the tingling in my forearms tells me she's too far gone to help. She's.. one of us now. She's a monster."  
  
"She's an innocent victim." Angel said.  
  
"So were we.. once upon a time."  
  
"Once upon a time." Buffy cleared her throat. Angel turned to her and hugged her tightly. "There you are. I got worried. Are you ok?"  
  
"No." Buffy said simply. She moved away from Angel and over to Spike. She gently touched his cheek with the back of her fingers. "How are you?"  
  
"Been better. Fred says I'll have full motor skills as soon as the drugs wear off." Spike said.  
  
"I'm sorry I didn't get there soon enough."  
  
"Not your fault ducks." Spike smiled up at her.  
  
"In a way it is. I unleashed the Slayer in her and she didn't know how to handle it."  
  
"What you did.. It was amazing Buffy. I witnessed something incredible in that cavern six months ago and it was because of you. You stopped the apocalypse and gave those girls one hell of a reason to do good. You said it yourself: you couldn't have known that that girl was a looney."  
  
Buffy smiled. "Giles and the others don't think so. Andrew said we're not on the same side anymore."  
  
Spike shook his head. "What do they know? They haven't been around to know bloody heads or tails of what you're doing."  
  
Buffy looked at Angel this time. "I don't know anymore myself." 


	23. You're Welcome p1

Chapter 23  
  
Buffy flipped backwards and landed on top of a headstone. She had a broad smile on her face that made Spike smile as she leaped off the headstone with a roundhouse kick. The Slayer was back in action and loving every minute of it. She had gone to Spike and asked him to patrol with her again. He hadn't hesitated the first time and he had already been ready that night. For the past week, she had wanted to patrol with such ferocity that it made Spike wonder if she felt like she was trying to make up for working with Wolfram and Hart.  
  
"What are you smiling about little girl?" A vamp snarled at her.  
  
"You don't know who I am?" Buffy asked, genuinely confused. "I'm the Slayer."  
  
"The Slayer?"  
  
"This is so lame!" She staked the vampire and turned so she was back to back with Spike. There were about six more vamps to go. "Ok guys, we have to wrap this up. I have places to be, other demons to kill."  
  
"You're enjoyin' this, aren't you?" Spike asked.  
  
"You know it!" With that, she attacked again. She had Mr. Pointy out and was using it swiftly. When all the vamps were dust, she turned to Spike. "Thanks for showing a gal a great time."  
  
"Hey, you invited me along." Spike dusted himself off. "So what's with the extreme slaying?"  
  
"I realized I was neglecting my duties as Slayer. Obviously. Are there usually that many vamps?"  
  
"Not usually." Spike noticed the small bruise forming on her cheek. He touched it gently. "You might want to get ice for that. It's going to swell."  
  
Buffy shrugged. "I'll heal." She looked at her watch. "Oops, gotta go. I told Angel and the others I'd help bag this demon for parole or something." The Slayer shrugged as she put the stake in her back pocket. "Don't really think they need my help, but whatever."  
  
"You could always stay here with me and we can go find more trouble."  
  
Buffy smiled. "Rain check?"  
  
"I'm holding you to it."  
  
"You got it." Buffy sped to where Angel and her were supposed to meet. They had moved on and Buffy followed her senses, reaching out to Angel. She found them in a building not far away. "Hey guys what'd I mi.. Oh. That's not good."  
  
"Where've you been?" Angel asked. He noticed to bruise swelling on her cheek. "What happened?"  
  
"Spike and I were ambushed. It's ok. They're all dust." She smiled proudly. "Forgot how exhilarating slaying could be."  
  
"Why would Greenway do this?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Greenway? He did this?"  
  
"It was just a stupid racketeering charge. I told him we'd get him off with probation, so long as he shut down operations."  
  
"He's a Wolfram & Hart client. Our client. Oh, and he's evil. What are the odds?" Angel asked.  
  
"What do we do now?" Fred asked.  
  
"Now? I find Greenway, and I kill every inch of him." Buffy said. "Cause that's what a Slayer does."  
  
"You won't find him. 5 holy women. This wasn't random." Wesley said. "It's ritual. He's jumped dimensions."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Also, not shockingly, our client practices black arts. He's escaped through a pan-dimensional doorway, disappeared into any one of infinite universes."  
  
"Fred?" Angel asked.  
  
"My equipment's not calibrated to track anything out of this dimension. Even if such a thing is possible, it would take months or maybe years.."  
  
"That's it."  
  
"But probably months, or maybe weeks if I really push.."  
  
"I can't do this anymore."  
  
"Do what?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Any of this. Living with it. Running Wolfram & Hart. I quit."  
  
"Oh thank God!" Buffy said. They all looked at her. "What? Haven't you noticed the me not being there much lately? Less business suits more slay- worthy clothes.. Angel and I've already talked this over."  
  
***  
  
The next day, they were all convened in Buffy and Angel's office. Dawn was even there. "There's nothing more to discuss. Buffy and I are resigning." Angel said.  
  
"Gee, it seems like a ripe topic for discussion to me." Lorne said.  
  
"What happened last night was tragic. It's a terrible setback, but.." Wesley tried.  
  
"Setback, Wes?" Angel asked. "It's status quo. Evil wins, cause instead of just wiping it out, we negotiate with it. Or worse.. for it."  
  
"We're doing the best we can." Fred said.  
  
"It's not that you guys aren't doing your jobs." Buffy said. "It's that we shouldn't be doing these jobs in the first place.. or Angel and I shouldn't."  
  
"I'd say we've all had a bellyful." Gunn said. "Any thought about what would happen to us if we tried to say bye-bye? The ramifications, I mean. You guys think the senior partners are just gonna let us breeze on out the front door?"  
  
"You're saying we're trapped here?" Dawn asked.  
  
"I'm saying we knew what we were getting into when we signed up for this gig. Let's not start pretending that this was some lease with an option to buy."  
  
"Gunn, you really think they won't let us out?" Buffy asked, moving closer to him. "Or is it that you just don't want to leave?"  
  
"Ok. Maybe I don't. It's cause I believe in what we're doing. We made the right call."  
  
"And I'm sure that legal brain upgrade they gave you has got nothing to do with.." Angel said.  
  
"We all got something out of this."  
  
The phone rang and Angel picked it up. "Yeah. It's Angel. What?"  
  
"What's wrong?" Buffy asked, walking over to Angel.  
  
"It's Cordelia."  
  
Buffy blinked. "What?"  
  
"She's awake."  
  
***  
  
Buffy, Angel, and Wesley walked into Cordelia's hospital room and saw a woman lying on the bed under a pink blanket. Her face was obscured by a privacy curtain, but they could see she was still and attached to the hospital machinery. Wesley and Angel hesitated to approach her.  
  
Buffy, however, moved forward. "Cordy?"  
  
Cordelia walked out from the bathroom in a hospital gown. "Yeah. That chick's in rough shape. You'd think they'd give miss one-foot-in-the-grave a private room.. which brings me to, hey.. couldn't you stick me someplace that smells a little less like ammonia-soaked death?"  
  
Buffy smiled broadly and hugged Cordelia tightly. "Cordy!"  
  
"Yeah. It's me."  
  
Cordy and Angel hugged and he moved away for Wesley. "It's extraordinary. You're.. you look.. I don't want to say really hot.."  
  
"Oh, yes, you do. I'm a vision of hotliness, and how weird is that? Mystical comas. You know, if you can stand the horror of a higher power hijacking your mind and body so that it can give birth to itself, I really recommend 'em."  
  
"You remember?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Last year? Yeah. I remember everything.. pretty much. At least until I slipped into slumberland. Maternal instincts aside, I hope you kicked its ass for me." Buffy and Angel said nothing but shot an awkward glance at Wesley, who didn't react. "Is everybody all right?"  
  
"Yeah. Uh.. great." Buffy said.  
  
"We're all.." Angel started.  
  
"Yes. Super." Wesley said.  
  
"Super. Yes. Super."  
  
"Hey, why don't we get you out of here?" Buffy said.  
  
"Ooh! I love that plan. I hope you brought me some clothes, 'cause.." She looked at her hospital gown. "Damn."  
  
"We could stop and buy some."  
  
"Ooh! Great! Shopping! I love that idea, cause, you know, I'm not so ready to go back to the hotel yet."  
  
Angel looked at Buffy as they followed Cordy and Wes out. "Not a problem."  
  
***  
  
The elevator doors opened and Buffy, Angel, and Wesley stepped out, but Cordelia didn't follow. "I can't." She said.  
  
"It's ok." Angel said. Cordelia sighed and stepped off the elevator into the lobby, looking around skeptically. "See? It's just an office. Going about its day. Nothing scary popping out at you. Just regular people.." Cordelia gasped as she turned and saw Sebassis's pale, emaciated, horned slave looking at her as he was led through the lobby on a chain.  
  
"Yeah, I found the scamp hiding in one of the copiers, you know?" One of the guys walking by said. "Living on nothing but toner fluid. Can you beat that? The slave, I mean. I mean, I assume the Archduke's gonna beat him and all that."  
  
"That's..ha.. nothing. Hey, do you wanna see mine and Buffy's office?"  
  
"Yeah.." Cordy said hesitantly.  
  
They walked into the large office. Lorne stood up and smiled. "Lorne!"  
  
"Are you huggable?" Lorne asked, hugging Cordelia.  
  
"It is so good to see.." She looked over Lorne's shoulder and saw Gunn. "Oh, my God. Gunn? You have hair."  
  
"Oh yeah. What did you think? I was prematurely bald?" Gunn asked. Cordelia said nothing. "I wasn't."  
  
Cordelia laughed. Fred tapped Gunn on the shoulder and he stepped back so Fred could hug Cordelia too. "Fred!"  
  
"Hi, Cordy." Fred said.  
  
"So, where's Connor?"  
  
"Who?" Gunn asked.  
  
Buffy and Angel's eyes widened. Cordy looked confused. "What do you mean, who? Connor. Isn't he.." She turned to Buffy and Angel. "Guys, where's your s.."  
  
Harmony interrupted with a teenage girl's shriek. "Aah! Oh, my God!" She ran up to Cordy and hugged her tightly around the neck. "I can't believe you're here!" She hugged Cordy again.  
  
"Likewise. Especially since the last time I saw you, you tried to kill me."  
  
"Um, Harmony, she's.. actually, she.. she's our secretary." Angel said.  
  
"Oh. Well, things just keep getting better and better."  
  
"I know." Harmony said. "You and me together again. So, how was the coma?"  
  
"Uh, Harmony, I think Cordy's had enough excitement for the day." Buffy said. "Why don't you.. Why doesn't everybody get back to work?"  
  
"Great to see you." Gunn waved and left.  
  
Everyone followed suit. Lorne stopped in the doorway. "Hey, listen, crumbcake, when you're ready to splash back into that acting pool, just say the word. I'll have you lunching with Colin Farrell like that."  
  
"Who's Colin Farrell?" Cordy asked as Lorne shut the door.  
  
"Cordy, I know there's a lot to take in, a lot of changes, but I promise you.. things here are working out." Angel said.  
  
"Really?" Buffy and Cordelia both asked.  
  
"Well, yeah. With these resources, there's nothing we can't do, no one we can't save."  
  
"Except maybe yourselves." Cordy said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I had a vision.. from the you-know-what that be. That's what woke me up. And you know something? When higher powers send you coma visions, you'd better pay attention."  
  
"What did you see?" Buffy asked.  
  
Cordy looked at Angel. "You. In trouble. Also, these weird symbols. Glyphs, I guess. On a wall.. and on flesh. A tattoo, and.. There's a woman behind you."  
  
"You saw a woman in your vision?" Angel asked.  
  
Buffy scowled. "Eve."  
  
"You two weren't home upstairs. Didn't think you'd mind me using your private elevator." Eve said.  
  
"I mind you breathing. Get out."  
  
"Yeah, sure. Except I'm here to convey the partners concern. A little issue of you letting a client skip out of our dimension. Dead nuns we can deal with, but the firm's out 10 million in bail costs." Eve looked at Cordelia. "I ask you, is that any way to run a business? Who's your friend, guys?"  
  
"I'm Cordelia Chase." Cordy said, glaring at Eve.  
  
"Oh. My name is.."  
  
"I didn't ask." She walked over and stood by Buffy.  
  
"Right. Cordelia Chase. Oh, yeah. Buffy and Angel talked a lot about you.. at first."  
  
"I thought I told security not to let you in this building." Angel said.  
  
"Sweetie, I'm liaison to the senior partners. You honestly think you have any control over my comings and goings?"  
  
Buffy stepped closer to Eve. "Maybe you didn't hear me before, so I'll say it again. Get the hell out."  
  
"We'll talk business later. I'll let you three catch up."  
  
Buffy followed Eve out the door. "And I'll let you walk out of here with your head still attached to your body. Harmony, I want security keeping tabs on Eve while she's in the building."  
  
"Got it." Harmony said.  
  
"That's the kind of person you do business with now? Do you realize what's happening? You've made a deal with the devil."  
  
"Oh, come on, Cordy." Angel said. "You're being a little overdramatic. It's not that, uh.."  
  
A red-skinned demon with black hair, horns, and a goatee walked up to Angel wearing a suit and holding a briefcase. "I gotta go. Everything's in place. They'll draw up the paperwork."  
  
Angel shook the Devil's hand. "Good. Great."  
  
"Racquetball Thursday?"  
  
"Ok, then." Cordelia rolled her eyes and walked back into the office. "What did I do?"  
  
***  
  
Buffy walked out of the bedroom and sat with Cordy on the couch. "How is Dawn?" Cordy asked.  
  
"Adjusting."  
  
"I can see why."  
  
"No, I mean.. She's a senior at Hemery."  
  
"What about Sunnydale?"  
  
"We, uh.. We kinda blew it up."  
  
"Are you kidding?"  
  
"No. It's a huge crater now. I'll take you to see it one day."  
  
"Why'd you do it, Buffy?"  
  
"Well.. You see, there were these Uber-Vamps and the First and.."  
  
"No, I mean Wolfram and Hart. Why'd you let them suck you into this?"  
  
"It's complicated."  
  
"Well, un-complicate it."  
  
"Connor."  
  
"Connor? Where is Connor? Why did Gunn ask.."  
  
"They don't remember him. It's part of the agreement to take this job. The senior partners altered reality. They gave Connor a life, a real family, and a childhood. Something Angel and I could never give him. He has no memories of us. And no one remembers him. Except me, Angel, and you. And Eve, for some reason."  
  
"So, not only did you and Angel strike a deal with your worst enemy to give up your son, you let them rape the memories of your friends who trust you?"  
  
Buffy had tears slowly making their way down her face. "He was about to kill you. And himself. He was so torn up. We didn't have any other way to stop him, any way to help him. Connor's happy now."  
  
"And you're not." Buffy looked away. "This isn't the Buffy I knew. Where's the bright and bubbly Buffy I remember from Sunnydale High School's Class of 1999? Where's the Class Protector that would rather be slaying than doing homework?"  
  
"She died three and a half years ago."  
  
"I don't believe you. I know she's in there."  
  
"I can't find her."  
  
"Well, then let me help." Cordelia stood up and stared at Buffy. "You're Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You are the strongest person I have ever met. You are full of nothing but good. You survived five months of intense torture from a demon that wore the face of the man you love, the man you felt was worthy enough to give your virginity to. You have always worn your heart out on your sleeve and it's been broken and bruised countless times, but every time, you've come back from it. I've been witness to the incredible things you've done in the eight years I've known you. Honestly, I can't imagine this world without you. Well, actually I can because I've seen it.."  
  
"What? When?"  
  
"After Xander.. After I came back from the hospital senior year, I made a wish to Anya. I wished that you'd never come to Sunnydale. It was the most awful place anyone could ever imagine. But that's not the point." Cordy sighed. "You are the most unselfish person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be the woman I am today.. Probably because I wouldn't be living today." She smiled. "So, have you found her yet?"  
  
Buffy smiled and hugged Cordy. "Thank you." 


	24. You're Welcome p2

Chapter 24  
  
Angel walked off of the private elevator into his and Buffy's apartment. From the other room, he heard Doyle. Cordelia was sitting on the edge of the bed watching the tape of a promotional spot she and Doyle made in the early days of Angel Investigations.  
  
"If you need help, then look no further. Angel Investigations is the best. Our rats are low.."  
  
"Rates." Cordy said on the tape.  
  
"It says rats. Our rates are low, but our standards are high. When the chips are down, and you're at the end of your rope, you need someone that you can count on, and that's what you'll find here, someone who will go all the way, who'll protect you no matter what. So don't lose hope."  
  
Cordy paused the video. "Sorry. I was snooping. I found this."  
  
"No, it's-it's ok. I just.. You couldn't sleep?"  
  
"Oh. No sleep for me. I slept enough for one lifetime."  
  
"Been a long while since I've seen that."  
  
"The first soldier down."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Doyle pissed me off so righteously going out like that, but he knew. He knew what he had to do. Didn't compromise. Used his last breath to make sure you'd keep fighting. I get that now."  
  
"Cordy.. there are reasons Buffy and I agreed to take over Wolfram & Hart, reasons you don't understand."  
  
"I understand just fine. They seduced you guys with all their fancy facilities, manpower. They threw a whole bunch of money at you, plied you with all these expensive toys and penthouses with spectacular views, and.. really spectacular. What was I saying?"  
  
"Buffy and I've been seduced."  
  
"That's right, pal. They dazzled you with shiny objects and beautiful things and.. There is no reason you could give me.."  
  
"Connor."  
  
"I know."  
  
"You know?"  
  
"Buffy and I talked earlier."  
  
"Where is Buffy anyway?"  
  
"She's patrolling like she's supposed to. But you've thrown me off track. I was saying that neither of you are happy here."  
  
"We're doing fine here. I mean, we've done some great work here.."  
  
"Don't give me that, 'everything's fine here' company line. I'm not buying it. Neither is Buffy.. And neither are you. Neither are the Powers That Be. Why do you think they woke me up, gave me that vision? They know you guys slipped the track, and they want me to help put you back on it."  
  
"You're wrong about the Powers. They're not in our corner anymore. It looks like Spike is their new champion. He saved the world. And he's out there on the streets. You know, helping the.. helpless."  
  
"Spike's a hero, and you and Buffy are C.E.O.s of Hell, Incorporated. What freakin' bizarro world did I wake up in?"  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"I naturally assumed you'd be lost without me, but this?"  
  
"We are lost without you."  
  
"You just forgot who you two were."  
  
"Remind me."  
  
"Uh, no. That's for you to figure out, bubba. I can tell you who you were like I did for Buffy. You're a guy who always fought his hardest for what was right, even when he couldn't remember why. Even when he was miserable, which was, let's face it, a not small portion of the time. He did right. And that gave him something. A light, a glimmer. And that's the guy I knew. I see him around here, then maybe I'll start believing."  
  
"Let me know if you do." Angel sighed. "So, you and Buffy talked?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"What'd she say?"  
  
"She told me about Sunnydale and Connor. She also admitted that she was unhappy here. She lost her best friends' trust because of this place and that jolted her back to reality. She also told me about all those Slayers that are out there. Wow! That's pretty amazing, huh?"  
  
"She's an amazing woman."  
  
"That she is."  
  
"What'd you tell her?"  
  
"I told her a story of a girl who made it through everything the world threw at her and came back standing strong. Then that girl became a woman and got married to the love of her life. Her family was the only thing completely holding her together, but I think she'd gonna be ok."  
  
"Good."  
  
***  
  
Buffy was walking through the lobby toward her office. She opened the door and walked in. Angel was sitting at the desk, signing something. He looked up. "Hey swee.. What happened?"  
  
"Where's Cordelia?"  
  
"She's around. What happened?" He got up and looked at her torn, bloody sleeve, touching it lightly. She winced slightly.  
  
"Did you know Miquot demons can grow knives out of their skin? I didn't." Buffy walked over to the desk and opened the bottom drawer, pulling out a clean, white, button down top. Angel bandaged her arm and she slipped on the top, leaving the top four buttons open, showing a little bit of cleavage. "Hey, let's go find Cordelia."  
  
"Did Spike go with you again?"  
  
"Yeah. He's here somewhere. I think he went to visit Fred."  
  
"Did you tell him about Cordelia?"  
  
"Of course!"  
  
They rounded a corner and found Spike pulling away from Cordelia's neck. Angel tackled Spike to the ground and punched him in the face. Spike responded with a kick to Angel's chest. "You took me on and lost, remember, old man?" He said.  
  
"Touch Cordelia again.." Angel broke free of Spike's grip and lifted Spike into the air then threw him to the ground. "Get ready for our very last rematch."  
  
"Are you ok?" Buffy asked Cordelia. Cordy nodded.  
  
"She's evil, you gourmless tit." Spike said.  
  
"Excuse me? Who bit whom?" Cordy said.  
  
"Did you call me a tit?" Angel asked.  
  
"I thought he had a soul." Cordelia said to Buffy.  
  
Spike pointed at Cordy. "I thought she didn't."  
  
"I do."  
  
"So do I."  
  
"Well, clearly, mine's better."  
  
"Look.."  
  
Angel grabbed Spike by the lapels and threw his back into the wall. "I see fangs, I'm gonna play dentist."  
  
"And you called this guy the big hero?" Cordy asked.  
  
"You called me a hero?" Spike asked Angel.  
  
"I didn't know you were eating people."  
  
Spike head-butted Angel, sending them apart, both reeling and holding their foreheads in pain. "Ow! God. It was a taste test, you git. I needed to know if what my source said is true. And, actually, well, you don't taste evil. Demons are more.. astringent with a sort of oakie, really.."  
  
"What source?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I've got a guy. Has an in with the powers that whatsit. Gets these visions."  
  
"Visions?"  
  
"Yeah. Said Cordelia was taken over by some big bad. Came to destroy you all."  
  
"His vision's a rerun." Cordy said.  
  
"The thing that possessed Cordy's long dead, Spike." Buffy said, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Well, looks like tattoo boy was wrong this time." Spike said.  
  
"Wait." Cordy said. "Tattoos? What kind of tattoos?"  
  
"I don't know. Symbols. Tribal-like."  
  
"This guy with the visions, did he have a name?" Angel asked.  
  
"Called himself Doyle."  
  
Buffy, Angel, and Cordelia froze, staring incredulously at Spike. Down the hall, Eve was watching them talk, talking on her cell phone. "No, he didn't kill her. She's still alive. Now they're talking. A lot."  
  
Buffy, Angel, and Cordelia walked down to her and waited. Eve hung up the cell phone, and when she looked up, she saw the three of them standing right in front of her, smiling knowingly. "Can we have a word with you, Eve?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Now's really not a good time." Eve said.  
  
Buffy grabbed Eve's hair. "Let's go, Lilah junior." They escorted Eve into Buffy and Angel's office. Buffy threw Eve into a chair as the others came in. Eve was surrounded by Gunn, Buffy, Angel, Cordelia, Dawn, Lorne, Fred, and Wesley. Spike was sitting near the window. "We've got a problem, Eve."  
  
"Damn right, you do. When I tell the partners you assaulted me.."  
  
"A couple weeks ago, a man approached Spike. Told him that the powers that be have some missions for him. Spike, braintrust that he is, went along with it."  
  
"Hey." Spike said.  
  
"He's the one who told Spike to save me from the parasite." Angel said. "The parasite you put on me in the first place."  
  
"Not this again." Eve started to stand.  
  
Cordelia moved in front of Eve. "Get out of that chair and I will feed you those Manolo Blahniks. Which are stunning, by the way."  
  
"Seems to me like you and this guy are working together." Buffy said.  
  
"Look, I don't know what you're talking about. But you can't keep me here. I have to leave." Eve said.  
  
"But the thing that really, really pisses me off is that this guy seems to be going by the name of Doyle."  
  
"Doesn't ring a bell."  
  
"It does to me." Cordy said. "It rings a big fricking gong, and I wanna know who has the nerve to be using that name."  
  
"I'm gonna give you one chance to tell me where he is." Buffy said, leaning over into Eve's face.  
  
"Look, I don't know what.." Eve started.  
  
Harmony walked in. "Excuse me, bosses?"  
  
"Not now, Harmony." Angel said.  
  
"Ok, but do I get the afternoon off, too?"  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Everybody's gone. The whole building cleared out a few minutes ago."  
  
"What's going on, Eve?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I don't know." Eve said.  
  
"Gunn.."  
  
"On it." Gunn walked out.  
  
Buffy straightened and glared at Eve. "I'm gonna love this, I just know."  
  
A few minutes later, Gunn walked back in. "I checked the server. A message went out. Code 7, right before the building emptied."  
  
"What's a code 7, Eve?"  
  
"I don't know. Seriously."  
  
"OK, this is getting us nowhere." Cordy said. "Angel, torture her."  
  
"What?" Angel asked.  
  
"What?" Eve asked, panicked.  
  
"You heard me. Building clearing out means we don't have a lot of time. Have at it." Cordy said.  
  
"I can't just.. torture her." Angel said.  
  
"He's right, Cordy. If we sink to their level.." Fred said.  
  
From out of nowhere, Harmony tackled Eve, knocking her into the desk with a primal grunt. "Harmony!" Buffy yelped.  
  
Harmony stood and grabbed Eve by the neck. "Is this ok? I mean, I am evil, technically. I don't mind torturing her for the team."  
  
Buffy looked at Angel and then back at Harmony with a shrug. "Yeah, ok." Harmony punched Eve in the face. "Come on, you hussy!" She backhanded Eve. "Spill it!"  
  
"Ok. Ok. Stop. It's a fail-safe. They built a fail-safe.." Eve said.  
  
Harmony punched Eve in the face again, harder this time. Angel shook his head. "Harmony, she's talking."  
  
"She is? Already? Well, that sucks." Harmony backed off.  
  
"Look, the senior partners were never certain they could keep you and Buffy under their thumb, so they created a fail-safe. Housed it in the sub- levels of the building." Eve said.  
  
"What kind of fail-safe?" Dawn asked.  
  
"I don't know what it is, exactly, but it's huge and alive.. and specifically designed to destroy you and Buffy."  
  
"How can I stop it?" Angel asked.  
  
"The only way to shut it down's in the chamber itself."  
  
"Well, if that's true, then who activated it in the first place?" Fred asked.  
  
"You were with us when the building cleared out." Gunn said.  
  
"Had to be someone else." Wesley said. "Someone with the ability to slip past Wolfram & Hart security systems."  
  
"Like our magically tattooed faux Doyle." Lorne said.  
  
"Spike, I don't wanna go in blind. Anything else you know about this guy?" Angel asked.  
  
"Not much. Average size. Dressed like an urban cowboy." Spike paused. "Got his hand chopped off once."  
  
"His hand?" Cordy asked.  
  
"He's back." Wesley said.  
  
"Lindsey." Angel said.  
  
"Who?" Fred and Buffy asked.  
  
"Lock the building down, make sure he can't get out. Don't trust security systems. He won't show up because of those tattoos of his."  
  
"There could be a way to fix that. I'll need some help." Wesley said.  
  
"My dance card's free." Lorne said.  
  
"Who is Lindsey?" Fred asked.  
  
"You mean Lindsey the lawyer?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Yup. Wolfram & Hart's former golden boy, till he ran off to go find himself." Cordy said.  
  
"Yeah, he should've stayed lost." Angel said. "Harmony, guard Eve. She moves, eat her."  
  
"Really? Thanks."  
  
"Angel, you're not going down there alone." Buffy said.  
  
"The fail-safe's meant for me.."  
  
"And me!"  
  
"I'm not gonna risk anybody I care about."  
  
"I'll go." Spike said.  
  
"Ok." Angel looked at Buffy and Cordelia. "Be ready to evacuate. If this thing gets past me, get the hell out of the building."  
  
Cordy and Buffy looked at each other and then headed to the wall. "Past us." Buffy said, grabbing the Celtic broadsword while Cordy grabbed a katana.  
  
"No, no. Buffy, Cordelia.."  
  
"Yeah, save it, Angel. You can order me around all you want, but I know my rights. Cordy and I wanna see a lawyer." Cordelia smiled at Buffy.  
  
***  
  
Buffy, Spike, Cordelia, and Angel walked down the basement steps into a room guarded by a net of green laser beams. "What the bloody hell is this?" Spike asked.  
  
"Let's find out." Angel said. He walked into the laser net, triggering an alarm. Doors unlocked, and people walked out of closets poised for a fight.  
  
"Zombies. Oh, swell." Buffy said. The four of them took on the zombies.  
  
"We don't have time for this." Angel called.  
  
"Go on. I'll hold them back." Spike said.  
  
Buffy, Angel, and Cordelia ran off. They walked into the chamber as Lindsey walked down the stairs from the control panel and patted the side of the tank as it rose from the floor. "Bye, bye Angel." He said.  
  
"Hello Lindsey." Angel said.  
  
"And the heroes arrive right on schedule. And with a date."  
  
"Yeah. Dinner and a show.. and you're both." Cordy said.  
  
"Well, this is interesting. I've never had the pleasure of meeting your wife, Angel. She's even more gorgeous in person. Too bad she has to die." Angel growled and walked slowly towards Lindsey. "Is this the part where I get all weak in the knees? Promise I'll never do it again?"  
  
"It's a little late for that, Doyle." Angel said.  
  
"There's always time for redemption. Isn't that your whole thing?"  
  
"You had your chance. I guess some people, they just never change." Angel started to backhand Lindsey, but Lindsey caught his hand mid-thrust and punched Angel in the ribs before throwing him hard across the room. Angel rolled across the floor into the opposite wall.  
  
"I did." Lindsey walked toward Angel. "You just gonna lay there and bleed?"  
  
"Buffy, Cordy, get out of here."  
  
"No." Lindsey pointed to the door behind Buffy and Cordelia, causing it to close behind them. "Hang out. This won't take long." He pulled a pocketknife out of his back pocket.  
  
Buffy walked up to Lindsey. "Thank God I never met you, because I treat all the bad guys like you the same."  
  
"And how's that?"  
  
"Like they have a lot of strength." Buffy backhanded Lindsey, sending him flying away from Angel. "But not as much as me." She smiled brightly at him. "And it's my pleasure to kick your ass."  
  
"Angel!" Cordy threw her sword to Angel and he got up, going to back Buffy up.  
  
Lindsey looked at Buffy and Angel's swords and then down at his pocket knife. "Oh. Well, it's not the size that matters." He transformed the pocketknife into a hefty sword. "It's how you use it."  
  
"Shut it down." Angel said.  
  
"Say please."  
  
"I wasn't talking to you."  
  
"Oh, right. On it." Cordy ran toward the stairs to the control panel.  
  
Buffy and Angel started to circle Lindsey. Angel stared at Lindsey darkly. "So go and get yourself a little mojo? Should never have come back, Lindsey."  
  
"What can I say? I missed you." Lindsey said.  
  
Angel swung first, and he and Lindsey engaged in sword fighting while Cordelia examined the control panel. Lindsey pinned Angel against the wall during their sword fight, but Buffy grabbed Lindsey's hair and pulled him away harshly. "Guys with long hair.. Not always a turn on for me." She punched Lindsey in the face with her sword and sent him reeling back. Angel grabbed Lindsey from behind, but Lindsey punched Angel then backflipped high into the air, landing on his feet on top of the holding tank.  
  
"Little something I picked up in Nepal." Lindsey said. "You like it?"  
  
"They sell that crap at the airport." Angel said. He and Buffy leapt into the air nearly effortlessly, landing on the holding tank. Angel and Lindsey resumed their sword fighting. Buffy understood that this was more Angel's fight, so she stayed out of it as much as she would allow herself. Lindsey kicked Angel in the knee, causing Angel to scream in pain and recoil.  
  
"You know, all my carefully laid out plans, my designs, when you get right down to it, that was pretty sweet, too, huh? Reason enough for me to come back. You, me.. fight to the death.. yours."  
  
"I've seen your tough act before, squirt. First time we ever met, you put on a show. Huffing and puffing, telling me I couldn't lay a hand on your scumbag client."  
  
"So you kicked him out a window."  
  
"Good times."  
  
"It was a defining moment." The vents around the holding tank let out steam as the tank started rumbling under their feet. "Kind of like this one."  
  
Angel and Lindsey continued their fight on top of the holding tank where some monster was ready to come out if Cordelia couldn't use the control panel to stop it. Angel punched Lindsey in the face. When Lindsey stood up, his shirt was hanging open, unbuttoned, and Angel noticed Lindsey's tattoos. "That must have stung."  
  
"Worse then when you cut off my hand."  
  
The sword fighting continued, but Lindsey took Angel's sword. Angel kicked Lindsey's sword into the air and leapt onto the balcony to catch it. Lindsey leapt onto the balcony with the samurai sword to continue the fight. Angel kicked Lindsey in the chest, knocking him back a couple of feet. Lindsey lunged toward Angel, stabbing him through the heart with the sword.  
  
"ANGEL!" Buffy screamed. Lindsey kicked Angel off the balcony, across the room. Angel landed on top on the holding tank. Buffy went to him and held onto him.  
  
Lindsey leapt down to stand over him. "Who is this? Who is this? I came to fight the vampire with a soul. Guess you shouldn't have sold it, huh? Look at you, from champion to pathetic corporate puppet in just a few months. You used to have fire in your heart. Now all you got in there is that big honkin' sword. How's that feel, champ?"  
  
"Could be worse.." Angel pulled the sword out of his chest and handed it to Buffy.  
  
She smiled. "If it had been made out of wood, you dumbass." Buffy and Lindsey engaged in hand-to-hand combat now, fighting with punches, head- butts, and kicks, Buffy on the upper hand.  
  
Cordelia pressed buttons on the control panel until a tube emerged. The covering iris widened to reveal the crystal inside, and when Cordelia took the crystal out, the system made a 'powering down' noise.  
  
Cordelia grinned widely at Lindsey. The tank sank back into its underground holding spot, keeping the animal inside it contained for now. Lindsey's power seemed to have faded now as well, since he was only able to throw weak punches at Buffy, and Buffy didn't even feel the need to fight back. "I think I'll hand you back to Angel." She threw Lindsey at Angel's feet.  
  
"All those tattoos, all those new tricks you've learned.." Angel punched Lindsey in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. "Just don't matter." Lindsey tried to stand. "Doesn't matter what you try." Angel punched Lindsey down. "Doesn't matter where I am or how badass you think you've become." Lindsey got to his knees, but Angel punched him in the face again. "Cause you know what?" He grabbed Lindsey by the neck, holding him face-to- face. "I'm Angel." He threw Lindsey across the room. Lindsey landed against the wall. "My wife and I beat the bad guys."  
  
"You ok?" Buffy asked Angel as Cordy ran over.  
  
"I've been worse."  
  
Lindsey staggered to his feet. "So what now, huh? Think you got it in you to kill me?"  
  
"Sweetie, your epidermis is showing." Cordy said.  
  
Lindsey looked at his tattoos. They floated up off of his skin and vanished into thin air, leaving him unmarked and thus unprotected. "Damn!" There was a flashing light and a whirlwind appeared above them.  
  
"I think the senior partners would like a word." Buffy said.  
  
Lindsey looked up to see a portal was forming in the air above him. "You don't think they're angry, do you?" He was sucked up into the portal.  
  
***  
  
A pouting Eve walked onto the elevator with the whole gang standing behind her to make sure she leaves. "It's really been a pleasure. Let's never keep in touch." Cordy said.  
  
"It's a new game, Eve. If I were you, I'd start thinking strategy." Angel said.  
  
"And here I am thinking revenge." Eve retorted.  
  
"And what do you imagine the senior partners are thinking?" The doors closed.  
  
"Well, I'm thinking seabreeze, compadres. I gave up a lot of blood for this gig." Lorne said.  
  
"And I didn't get any. I kept begging Eve to run, but.." Harmony shook her head.  
  
"Well, I've been prancing around thinking I had a destiny. Love to drown my embarrassment in a few pints." Spike said. Buffy smiled at him and shook her head.  
  
"We should all go get a drink. We haven't done that in.. ever." Fred said.  
  
"I'm in. Cat and Fiddle?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Will they let me in?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Applebees it is!"  
  
"Yeah." Wesley said. "Unless, of course, you two are busy packing." He said to Buffy and Angel.  
  
"A drink sounds good. I'll go get our coats." Angel said.  
  
"I'll come with." Buffy said. She and Angel headed to the office.  
  
"You ok? You're walking a little stiff."  
  
"I'll be ok. I've been out of the game for way too long."  
  
"You're still the original and the best."  
  
Buffy smiled. Cordelia walked in. "So.. You guys feel good?"  
  
"I do." Angel said. "I just.. I kind of feel bad about it."  
  
"My God, you are a piece of work."  
  
"I just don't feel like I deserve.. I mean, all I did was beat up a tiny Texan. It's not like I helped anyone."  
  
"Sure you did."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Boy, I really do fall for the dumb ones." Buffy said with a smile.  
  
"You know how you're always trying to save, oh, every single person in the world?" Cordy asked. "Did it ever occur to you, you were one of them?"  
  
"No, it never did." Angel said.  
  
"Well, you made the list, gorgeous." Buffy said.  
  
"And you both needed some help." Cordy added.  
  
"And you were the one that helped us."  
  
"I did my part."  
  
"Lindsey wasted a lot of energy trying to make me doubt myself." Angel said. "I know it's not even close to over, but I do feel like I can do this. Wolfram & Hart, whatever's coming, I feel like we can beat it."  
  
"I know."  
  
"You do?"  
  
"I always did. I.. I just needed you to know it, too."  
  
"So all that stuff about the deals with the devil.."  
  
"Was God's honest truth. But you're both bigger than that. You'll win this in the end. I, uh.. just wish I could be there to see it."  
  
"What do you mean? You're not.." Buffy asked.  
  
"I can't stay. This isn't me anymore. You can say good-bye to the gang for me, explain everything once you guys understand."  
  
"That's gonna be never."  
  
"Don't make it hard. I'm just on a different road.. and this is my off- ramp. The Powers That Be owed me one, and I didn't waste it. I got my friends back on track."  
  
"Cordy.."  
  
"We take what we can get, and we do our best with it. I'll be seeing you guys." Cordy hugged Buffy tightly. She went to hug Angel just as the telephone rang.  
  
"We don't need to get that." Buffy said.  
  
"That you have to get." Cordy hugged Angel and gently pushed him towards Buffy. "Oh.. and you're welcome."  
  
Angel looked at Buffy as she picked up the phone. "Hello. Yes, I know. She's.. but that's impossible. She's standing right.." Buffy turned to look for Cordelia, but she wasn't there. Buffy became visibly upset. "I'm sorry. Yeah. When did she die? Did she, um.. she never did wake up? I see." Buffy hung up covered her mouth as she began to sob.  
  
Angel touched her shoulder and she turned, burying her face in his chest. He tenderly stroked her hair as he began to cry with his wife. He looked at where Cordy had been standing. "Thank you." He kissed Buffy's hair and hugged her tightly. 


	25. Why We Fight

Chapter 25  
  
Buffy sat in the conference room next to Angel, her mind wandering back to the fight she had just come from with Spike. They had gone looking for trouble that night and had most definitely found some. They had walked into a demon bar that was notorious for the local demon mafias hanging out there and the two had dusted the four large vamp bouncers at the doors. Buffy smiled. The looks on the demon's faces in the bar were that of shock and outrage. It was almost comical on some of their malformed heads.  
  
Afterwards, Buffy had told Spike about the letter and the announcement she was planning to make concerning the letter, she just didn't know when it would come out. She fiddled with the folded up envelope in her jean jacket's pocket and yawned. Angel apparently noticed, so he said, "Eve's vanished. Let's end on a high note." Everyone got up and started to talk to each other, but Buffy still sat there, fiddling with the envelope. Angel touched her shoulder. "Baby, the meeting's over."  
  
"Huh? Oh." She stood, still touching the envelope.  
  
"You ok?"  
  
"Yeah. I'm great."  
  
"You're eye isn't as swollen as it was an hour ago."  
  
"I barely noticed because I had so much fun."  
  
"With Spike."  
  
She touched his cheek gently. "Hey, don't get jealous. We're just friends. No more than that." Then she put her hands on her hips and glared up at him. "So, you can stop sending the two undercover operatives out to watch us. They're not very good."  
  
Angel shrugged. "I can't help it. If you need help, they're always there as backup."  
  
Buffy saw the others leaving the office and she had a sense of urgency to stop them. "Hey guys!" They all stopped and turned. "I have something I need to say."  
  
"Is everything ok?" Gunn asked.  
  
"It's fine. Better than fine, even."  
  
"What's going on?" Wesley asked.  
  
"I'm leaving Wolfram and Hart."  
  
"What?" Angel asked.  
  
"Why?" Fred asked.  
  
"I'm going back to college. I got accepted to UCLA today. And the best part is I didn't go through Wolfram and Hart's connections to get in. In fact, that's why no one here knew. I made sure it was all done through the regular mail service. I even walked to the little blue mailbox on the street corner about twelve miles away. I had the return address as Spike's address and he gave this to me today." Buffy pulled out the UCLA envelope. "The spring semester starts in a few weeks and I'll be there."  
  
"You're going back to college?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Yeah. I've been wanting to, but I never had the chance. Until now. Are you guys mad? I don't want to do this without your approval because that would mean more time away from you guys and a whole lot more work for whoever takes the weapons department."  
  
They were silent for a moment. Angel looked away from Buffy, letting the others decide if they were ok with Buffy's decision. They could talk later at the penthouse while the others had to deal with the issue right now. After a minute, Wesley spoke up, "What do you plan to study?"  
  
Buffy smiled. "I don't know. I was thinking something in the mythology slash history department. Further my knowledge and expertise in those fields and further myself as a Slayer."  
  
"Are you sure about this?" Fred asked.  
  
"Completely, 500 percent positive."  
  
"Do you really have to quit?" Gunn asked. "I mean, what about the Senior Partners?"  
  
"They can go screw themselves. They don't own me, Gunn. Besides, you've already got a great C.E.O. You don't really need two. And Wesley can handle the weapons department."  
  
"I don't have to quit, do I?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Not if you don't want to." Buffy sighed. "I'm doing this because I really need to get in touch with the old me. Cordelia.... She said that she barely recognized me anymore. That I'd lost the old me. And she was right. Now that she's...." Buffy sighed, not wanting to go there. "I have to find a way to get in touch with the old me."  
  
"There's more to it, isn't there?" Fred asked.  
  
"Yeah. I lost the trust of the only man who was truly a father to me and the trust of my best friends. I haven't talked to any of them in the past two months. My sister Slayers don't trust me. None of you can understand how deeply that hurts me."  
  
There was a long pause and then Lorne smiled and clapped his hands. "I say go for it! This is making you happy. Your aura's been singing lately and it's not because you're birthday is in two days."  
  
"Yes." Wesley said. "You should go back to college."  
  
"I'm proud of you that you've decided to go back to college." Fred said. "I think your friends will be proud too."  
  
"Thank you." Buffy said. "Gunn?"  
  
He looked at her. "Are you sure?"  
  
"Do I have to make the speech again?"  
  
He smiled slightly. "If you don't like it, you can always come back."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
***  
  
Angel sat down on the couch and looked at the bedroom door. Buffy was getting ready to go patrolling again. Spike had called and said that he'd heard of a slight come back beginning somewhere in the city that would be aimed at them for killing most of LA's mafia demon leaders. His wife was completely excited where as he was completely annoyed. He wanted her here with him helping him make the big decisions and not out getting in fights that were way more fun than sitting behind a desk while he wished he could be there for the show fighting at her side.  
  
Buffy bounced out checking her wrist stake launchers. "Perfect."  
  
"Are you really gonna go?" Angel asked.  
  
"Can't let innocent people die because Spike and I pissed off some demons."  
  
"I meant to college."  
  
"Why? Do you not want me to go?"  
  
"It's not that I don't want you to.... It's just that I won't get to see you as much."  
  
"I'll be home at night."  
  
"I might be in bed."  
  
"And I'll curl up next to you and be in bed with you. Plus, this might force you to take some time off so we can be together."  
  
Angel raised his eyebrows. "Time off is a foreign concept at this juncture."  
  
"Well, if it's a juncture, then take the turn that will allow you to allow yourself time off. Maybe you'll get to see how good cookie me tastes."  
  
He laughed. "That cookie analogy is going to haunt us."  
  
She shrugged. "I'm one with words. Now I gotta go." Buffy bent over him and kissed him lightly. "I'll try not to be too late." She turned and got in the elevator. At the last second, she decided to grab the Celtic sword on the wall in the office for backup. Just as she strapped the thing to her back, a voice behind her said, "You must be the wife."  
  
Buffy turned to see a handsome older man standing there. She smiled slightly. "Friend of Angel's?"  
  
"We go way back."  
  
"Apparently." She sighed. "You're a vampire."  
  
"How did you guess?"  
  
"I'm a Slayer."  
  
"So I've heard."  
  
"Come to seek revenge for something he did?" He looked at her strangely. "It's always that. Guess you also know you won't get past me."  
  
"Says you." The vampire pulled out a gun and shot before she could even blink.  
  
Buffy felt the dart prick her neck. She pulled it out. "What the...."  
  
"I need both of us alive for this to work."  
  
The tranquilizer started to take affect and she fell to the ground, darkness overcoming her.  
  
***  
  
Angel sat in the penthouse all alone looking at some papers. Dawn was with Fred in the lab doing her job as Fred's assistant. Angel's mind kept wandering to thoughts of Spike fighting at Buffy's side. That was supposed to be his place, but he wasn't there. He was still with Wolfram and Hart. A part of him regretted the decision to stay, but the other part knew that this was his path now. He just couldn't loose sight of the true mission. Buffy had found her path once again.  
  
She hadn't been happy here from the moment she stepped foot in the place. Angel knew she was just trying to act optimistic for the team, but his deep connection to her told him that she wasn't happy. To him, she was a caged tiger at Wolfram and Hart and was starting to be tamed by the routine life they had built up, but Cordelia had said something that had gotten under Buffy's skin for the better. Now she was a free spirit who chose to fight the good fight on her own terms. She would always prefer fighting with weapons, hand-to-hand, and more comfortable clothes, not by personalized pens, contracts, and business suits. Hell, even Angel found that life dull.  
  
Just as he decided to get up and go help Buffy and Spike, a familiar voice said, "Hi ya, Chief." Angel looked up to find Lawson, one of his old mistakes come back to haunt him. "Aw, come on. Don't tell me you don't recognize me. Spend time in the tube, should know your crew like the back of your hand."  
  
"Lawson." Angel said.  
  
"You see there?" Lawson put his hand over his heart. "I'm touched. Aren't you gonna ask me how I got in here?"  
  
"Nah." Angel sat back and crossed his arms. "You'd be amazed how many people break into this building on a regular basis."  
  
"But I had a whole bit planned, about how I was always good with technology and you of all people should know that."  
  
"Yeah. Sorry. This place might as well be a bus station."  
  
"Seems like you're doing pretty well for yourself. It's a far cry from all those years you spent in the gutters, eating rats."  
  
"You've been following my life. I'm touched."  
  
"I just check in every decade or so. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Mr. Vermin-eater himself was suddenly fighting evil with a Slayer and running Wolfram & Hart. Mind explaining that one to me? Those 2 don't exactly go hand in hand."  
  
"It's complicated." Angel tried to play down the worry he felt for Buffy.  
  
"Find that's true about most things these days. I don't mean to sound like an old man, but.... We used to live in simpler times, didn't we? Never thought I'd miss being on that sub. Things made a kind of sense. 'Keep your head down.... Watch each other's backs, and stay alert.'" Lawson went on about the time on the sub in 1943, but Angel barely paid attention. He was worried that Lawson knew about Buffy. "Safe and sound. Guess now's not the time to argue semantics, is it? Did you care about any of it.... The ship? The mission? The men? Or were you just in it to save your own ass?"  
  
"What do you want, Lawson?"  
  
"Same thing I've always wanted: to understand."  
  
"Understand.... what exactly?"  
  
"Why we do what we do, how you manage to always...." Angel kicked the coffee table toward Lawson's legs, knocking him to the ground and smashing the table. Angel grabbed a splintered leg and reared back with it, ready to strike it into Lawson's chest. Lawson, whose back was pinned to the floor, reached up and grabbed Angel's wrist, stopping Angel from staking him. "You sure you want to do that, chief?"  
  
"Fairly certain I said I'd kill you if I ever saw you again."  
  
"Oh, I never doubted you. But you gotta ask yourself.... would I really come in here unarmed, knowing that, without an ace in the hole? Wouldn't make much sense, would it?"  
  
Angel backed off. "What did you do?"  
  
"Follow me, chief." Lawson took Angel down to his office of Wolfram and Hart. "Now, I don't need you to understand.... every detail." Gunn, Fred, Dawn, and Wesley were standing in swiveling office chairs bound and gagged. "But I do need you to trust that I'm gonna get us all through this, safe and sound." Angel started to go to his gang, but Lawson held up his hand, stopping Angel. Easy now. That's double-ought wire wrapped around your crew's necks. Take a fella's head clean off with just a little tug. Best not go roughhousing. Something might get knocked over." Lawson walked to Angel's desk and pulled Buffy out from behind it. She was unconscious, but unharmed. "She's pretty. No wonder you married her."  
  
Angel's panic level went up and out of the building. "Whatever you want from me.... this isn't the way to get it."  
  
"Already getting it. The worry in your eyes, fear of what might happen next, which is right on the mark, 'cause I got a funny feeling there's gonna be some blood spilled tonight." Lawson pulled a gun and put it to Buffy's head as he sat her in another chair. "For old times' sake."  
  
"Leave them out of this."  
  
"Especially this one right?" Lawson pushed the gun into Buffy's head, causing her to slump over the arm of the chair.  
  
"What did you do to her?"  
  
"Elephant tranquilizer. I hear that Slayer's are strong.... She didn't seem strong."  
  
"You probably didn't give her the chance to show you."  
  
"You're right about that." Lawson moved away to Buffy and Angel almost blew out a sigh of relief. "Did they at least torture you? Please tell me they did."  
  
"Never gave them a chance. Jumped ship.... off the coast of Maine. Went underground till the war was over."  
  
"Like any other coward."  
  
"Wars are won and lost by men."  
  
"You mean.... like me? No, wait, that doesn't apply anymore, does it?"  
  
"I never wanted to do this to you."  
  
"Oh, put your hanky away. I know how important the technology they pulled from the sub was to helping us stop the Germans. Sounded like a fair shake. One person damned to make the world safe for future generations." Lawson looked over at Fred, Gunn, Wesley, Dawn, and Buffy. "Except these guys."  
  
"Killing them's not going to change the past."  
  
"But it'll hurt you. Maybe that's enough."  
  
"Never is."  
  
"Then maybe I found my mission again after all these years."  
  
"Being an evil son of a bitch not keeping you busy?"  
  
"We all need a reason to live, even if we're already dead. Mom, apple pie, the stars and stripes.... That was good enough for me till I met you. Then I had this whole creature-of-the-night thing going for me, the joy of destruction and death, and I embraced it. I did all the terrible things a monster does: murdered women and children, tortured fathers and husbands just to hear 'em scream.... and through it all.... I felt nothing. 60 years of blood drying in my throat like ashes. So what do you think? Is it me, chief? Or does everyone you sired feel this way?"  
  
"You're the only one I ever did this to.... after I got a soul."  
  
"Do I have one, too?"  
  
"I don't think it works that way, son."  
  
"Didn't think so." Lawson punched Angel repeatedly, knocking him back into Angel's desk. Angel kicked Lawson across the room. When Lawson tried to get on his feet, he teetered near the hostages but managed not to bump them while looking at Angel and smiling. Lawson and Angel threw punches at each other again, and Angel threw Lawson to the ground. "You gave me just enough, didn't you? Enough of your soul to keep me trapped between who I was and who I should be. I'm nothin'.... because of you." Lawson charged at Angel again, but Angel stopped his punches, throwing Lawson instead through the glass wall.  
  
Lawson landed in the lobby amid fragments of shattered glass. He got to his feet as Angel sauntered toward him. Lawson looked around and grabbed a shaft of splintered window-frame, forming a makeshift stake. "You really want it to end like this?" Angel asked.  
  
"Sounds like a plan." Lawson reared back with the stake, but Angel grabbed his wrist before Lawson made contact with his chest. Angel forcefully turned the stake in Lawson's hand to point to Lawson's chest. "Come on, chief. Give me a mission." Angel reared back with his other hand, pounding the stake into Lawson's chest, turning him to dust instantly. Angel stared at what used to be Lawson for a moment and then went to untie Buffy, Dawn, and the others.  
  
***  
  
When Buffy woke up the next morning, Angel wasn't there. He hadn't slept that night and had gone to work early. She went downstairs to his office and found him staring out the window. "Hey." She said.  
  
"Hi." He looked over at her. "You ok?"  
  
"I'm all rested up for the next month or so. You wanna tell me what happened last night?" He told her everything that had happened in 1943 and what Lawson had done the night before. "The beginning of the Initiative." She said thoughtfully, changing the subject. "I guess our paths crossed before we even met, huh?"  
  
"You're my soulmate." Angel said simply.  
  
"Are you ok?"  
  
"I've been better."  
  
Buffy leaned into his side and turned so he could hold her better. She kissed his temple. "You did what you had to do to save those men. There was no wrong in it."  
  
Spike walked into the room. "Really ought to do something about security. They'll let anybody in here, won't they?" He walked up to Angel's other side and looked out at the skyline as well. "Fred gave me the Cliff Notes. So sailor boy finally came back for a yo-ho-ho, did he?"  
  
"Finally came back." Angel said.  
  
"Took him long enough. Y'know revenge is best served cold and all, but his must've been frozen solid."  
  
"I don't think that's what he was after."  
  
"No? Then what was he looking for?"  
  
Angel pulled Buffy tighter to him and laid his head on her chest. "A reason."  
  
Spike smiled. "You should've let him borrow Buffy. She gives vampires like us reasons to fight."  
  
Angel chuckled. "No. She's my reason. She and Dawn are my family and that's the only reason I need." Buffy smiled and wrapped her arms around Angel's neck loosely. 


	26. Smile Time p1

Chapter 26  
  
"Lorne, really.... I don't want a big fuss over my birthday. It's really not a big deal." Buffy protested as she and Lorne got off the elevator.  
  
"It's not every day you turn 23." Lorne said.  
  
"Why are you even arguing with me?"  
  
"Because I'm right and you're wrong."  
  
"No. There is no argument. I don't want a big party. I just want to stay home and ignore the fact that it's my birthday tomorrow."  
  
"Can I at least get you a present?"  
  
"No!"  
  
"What's going on?" Angel asked, catching up with Buffy and Lorne as they headed to Angel's office.  
  
"You're wife here doesn't want a birthday celebration." Lorne said.  
  
"That's ok. She's never had any luck with them before."  
  
"Is the entire world completely oblivious to the fact that Little Miss Slay- it here is officially the longest living Slayer tomorrow?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Lorne, please. The last five birthdays I've had have been a disaster." Buffy said.  
  
"You'll have to prove it to me." Lorne shot back.  
  
Buffy groaned. "17: Angelus makes his first appearance in my life after I sleep with Angel for the first time. That led to five months of torture and heartache. 18: I was stripped of my Slayer powers and forced to fight a crazed vampire that had kidnapped my mother. 19: Giles was turned into a demon and I stabbed him. 20: Dawn found out she was the Key and ended up slitting her arms with a big sharp knife. 21: Everyone invited to my party was locked inside the house due to a vengeance demon that Dawn made an accidental wish to. Not to mention that we were locked in with a demon that had a really big pointy sword and wanted to kill us all."  
  
"19 wasn't so bad." Buffy glared. "Ok.... What about 22?"  
  
"Angelus was out again and I was evil with him."  
  
"Hmm.... I see you're point."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"But I still don't understand why you won't let me throw you a party."  
  
"Lorne...."  
  
"I'll invite Johnny Depp and Mel Gibson."  
  
Buffy sighed. "Throw in George Clooney and Sean Connery and you've got a deal."  
  
"All right! This is going to be the best birthday party you've ever had. I'll start making the calls." Lorne walked out of the office, pulling his cell phone out.  
  
Buffy turned to Angel. "So how's your day been?"  
  
"Same as all the days before." Angel said, kissing Buffy gently. "Oh, Nina says hi."  
  
"Nina? The full moon's tonight?"  
  
"Yeah. She's down in her cage right now." Angel switched feet and couple of times and then turned and headed to his desk.  
  
Buffy crossed her arms. "What's wrong?"  
  
Angel turned to face her, obviously trying to mask his face. "What do you mean?"  
  
"You've got something face. Stop trying to hide it, it makes you look constipated. What happened?"  
  
"Um.... Well.... I think...."  
  
"Angel...."  
  
"I think Nina likes me."  
  
"What?"  
  
"She asked me to breakfast today."  
  
"And you said...."  
  
"I dodged."  
  
"Oh, Angel!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"You can't just let her hang like that."  
  
"Why not? She knows we're married."  
  
"But every time she sees you, you're not with me. Plus she knows I quit being C.E.O. with you. She must think there's something wrong between us."  
  
"There's not."  
  
"Then you need to explain that to her."  
  
"I don't know how."  
  
"Then I'll do it."  
  
"No! That would be awkward."  
  
"So?"  
  
"Fine. I'll do it."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Positive. I promise I'll tell her."  
  
"The sooner, the better."  
  
"I promise I'll tell her tomorrow morning when I go to unlock the cage."  
  
"Thank you." Buffy kissed Angel's cheek. "Now, I need to go talk to Wesley about taking over the weapons department."  
  
"I'll come with. I need to talk to him anyway."  
  
Buffy sighed. "Even after I quit this place, I'm still here!"  
  
Angel wrapped one, strong arm around Buffy's waist and hauled her to him, staring down at her sexily. "We could always role play. You're the wife that comes for lunch and I'll be the big hot shot C.E.O."  
  
Buffy smiled and kissed Angel's neck with a slight lick. "Mmm.... Lunch tastes good."  
  
Angel chuckled. "Keep doing this and we're going upstairs."  
  
"Hey. You started it bub."  
  
***  
  
Buffy stood in Angel's office watching him go through a case file Fred had brought to him. "So, what are you doing tonight?" Angel asked, not looking up.  
  
"What?" Buffy asked. "Oh.... Um, I don't really know. Maybe patrol a little and then hang out with Dawn. She's been freaking out over prom and I promised to help her search for a dress and all that other good stuff."  
  
"Prom?" This time, Angel did look up. "That's not until May."  
  
"She's been getting these prom magazines from the store and they all say that three months ahead is the best time to start." Buffy sat on the edge of Angel's desk feeling very much like Fran Dresher from The Nanny. "I think I'm going to end up being a chaperone."  
  
"How's that?"  
  
"Dawn signed me up for the PTA a while back. They called me the other day and asked if I was free."  
  
"You gonna do it?"  
  
"Hmm.... Walk around in a formal dress while teenage boys salivate all over me and I stand there wishing that I had had the perfect prom? Not my scene. I think I'll just do the hip big sister slash mom thing. You know, buy the dress and all that jazz that goes with it. Get you to pull out the company limo for her and I'll take four disposable cameras worth of pictures. Then I'll sit at home worrying that she's out there partying too hard, maybe getting drunk or stoned, warding off a Hell Hound or two.... Or worse.... Having sex."  
  
Angel chuckled. "She'll be out all night. We can have our own little party at home. I'll make up for all the dances I missed at your prom."  
  
"Sounds like a plan." Buffy sighed. "So, what are you doing tonight?"  
  
"I think I'm going to go check out this 'Smile Time' show. See what's really going on behind the scenes."  
  
"'Smile Time?' Sounds creepy."  
  
"It's a show with nothing but puppets."  
  
"Oh.... Not creepy. Evil. Puppets are evil."  
  
Angel stood up. "Can I walk you downstairs?"  
  
"Sure. I'd like that." Buffy slipped her arm through Angel's and allowed him to escort her out.  
  
***  
  
Buffy woke up the next morning and Angel wasn't in bed with her. In fact, she couldn't remember him ever coming to bed that night. He hadn't been home when she had come back from patrolling and Dawn said that he hadn't been home at all. The Slayer got up and slipped on her robe. Dawn had already left for school, so Buffy would never know if Angel had come home.  
  
She got dressed quickly and headed downstairs. The lobby was bustling with people and Harmony sat behind her desk. "Hey Buffy!" She said cheerily.  
  
"Hi Harmony. Is Angel in there?"  
  
"I don't know. I think so. Gunn, Dawn, Wesley, Fred, and Lorne were in there a little while ago."  
  
"He held a meeting and didn't come wake me up?"  
  
"Uh.... You don't work here anymore. You quit."  
  
"I know that! But he always brings me to meetings so he can give me a heads up on the latest LA bound creature."  
  
"Weird."  
  
Buffy ignored whatever Harmony had to say after that and headed into Angel's office. "Angel?" She heard a thump from behind the desk and then a, "Damn it." Buffy moved closer to the desk. "Angel? Are you under your desk?"  
  
"Yes." Angel said.  
  
"Can I ask why?"  
  
"You can ask."  
  
"What's going on? I wake up this morning and you're not there and Harmony said that you held a meeting without me.... Are you ok?"  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
"Then come out and look at me."  
  
"I'm busy."  
  
"No you're not. You're hiding. What happened?"  
  
"Please Buffy, just go away."  
  
"You know I won't."  
  
She heard Angel sigh. "Fine." As she watched, a little felt hand grabbed the desk and then another and then a puppet resembling Angel almost dead on popped up and looked at her. "GAH! That's not funny, Angel. You know I hate puppets."  
  
"It's me Buffy." The puppet said.  
  
"Angel...." Buffy walked around the desk and saw that the puppet was in fact Angel. "Oh my God!" Her eyes widened and she jumped back, bumping into the wall and knocking over a couple of the weapons, and covered her mouth. "Oh.... What happened?"  
  
"I went to that show, 'Smile Time,' and there was this guy with a towel on his head and this big giant egg that smiled at me and flashed me and knocked me back.... And I woke up like this."  
  
"Oh baby...." Buffy giggled. "You're so little!"  
  
"This is serious Buffy!"  
  
Buffy tried to hide her smile and get serious. "Yeah.... I know. How can we fix this?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"So, I'm guessing you haven't talked to Nina."  
  
"Of course not. Look at me! I'm a puppet." Angel seemed to get very sad, but it was hard to tell because his face wasn't exactly expression-full.  
  
Buffy kneeled down. "We'll fix this."  
  
"Can you not do that?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Kneel down. It makes me feel short."  
  
Buffy stood and held out her hand. "Come on."  
  
"Where are we going? I'm not going out there!"  
  
"No, I was going to take you upstairs and I'll take over for you."  
  
"You quit."  
  
"But I can still take over. I know what I'm doing. Come on...."  
  
Angel glanced at her and then her hand and then back up at her. She gave him a slightly annoyed glance and he sighed, taking her hand. Just as she started to lead Angel away to the elevator, Spike walked in saying, "Hello, big guy! Need another car. Afraid this last one ended up in the drink...." He stopped in mid-thought when he saw puppet Angel holding Buffy's hand.  
  
"Spike...." Angel warned.  
  
"Look at you."  
  
"Just turn around and walk away."  
  
"You're a...."  
  
"Spike!"  
  
Spike began to laugh uncontrollably. "You're a bloody puppet!" Before Buffy could react, Angel launched himself at Spike, knocking them through the office windows and into the lobby. Angel attacked Spike, wringing his neck. They fought, rolling around on the floor, while Spike couldn't stop laughing at him. "You're a wee, little puppet man!" Angel punched Spike in the face. "Ow!" He laughed again and Angel punched Spike in the face harder. "Ow! Hey!"  
  
"That's enough!" Buffy yelled. She pulled puppet Angel off of Spike and tossed him away from Spike. Angel landed on his feet, glaring at Spike.  
  
"Angel, what the hell happened to you? You look ridiculous." Spike said.  
  
"Get out of here, Spike."  
  
"Oh, my God. Angel, you're a...." Harmony started.  
  
"Shut up!" Angel looked around the lobby and realized everyone was staring at him. "What are you people looking at? Well?" The employees backed off, frightened.  
  
"They're looking at the wee, little puppet man." Spike said.  
  
"Oh, Spike!" Buffy groaned.  
  
Angel growled and leapt toward Spike again, biting his forearm this time. Spike groaned in pain, trying to wriggle his arm free of Angel's grip. Spike bashed Angel into the wall near the elevator, but Angel held on tightly to Spike's forearm. Spike stepped back as he tried in vain to writhe free of Angel's grip, and they stumbled into the elevator while Buffy shook her head and glanced at Harmony for help. The two were still wrestling as the elevator doors closed on them.  
  
"Stupid limey piece of crap!" Angel yelled. A thud was heard, then the elevator doors opened revealing Spike collapsed on the floor. Angel walked off the elevator and addressed the crowd of employees that gathered around the elevator. "Yes, I'm a puppet. Doesn't mean you don't have work to do." The crowd dispersed and Spike stood and watched Angel walked back to his office. "Harmony, get my call list. And Spike needs a car."  
  
"You heard the puppet." Spike said to Harmony. Buffy slapped him on the back of the head and ran after her puppet husband. "Ow! Bloody hell woman!"  
  
"Angel...." Buffy jumped through the door just as it was shutting. "Hey...."  
  
"Just leave me alone." Angel said.  
  
"No. You're my husband. I love you. I won't leave you alone."  
  
"Buffy...." The Slayer grabbed Angel's shirt collar and picked him up off the ground. "Hey!"  
  
"Shush." She sat him down on the conference table and then sat in a chair in front of him. "Get over it babe. You're a puppet and you know Spike as well as I do. He finds this funny and he doesn't know how to keep his trap shut."  
  
"Do you find this funny?"  
  
Buffy smiled sympathetically. "No. I really don't."  
  
Angel smiled slightly. "I hope we can get rid of this because I'm not anatomically correct."  
  
"Oh please! You are so not sleeping in the bed with me until you're back to normal. You know puppets creep me out. Especially the horny ones."  
  
Angel chuckled. "Hey, I wanna apologize about the way I treated you earlier."  
  
"It's ok."  
  
"No. I shouldn't have told you to go away. I'm just grumpy. I'm made of felt...." He pulled off his nose. "And my nose comes off."  
  
Buffy took the nose and gently placed it back on Angel's face. "I'm sure Fred and Wesley will fix it. Eventually."  
  
"I didn't mean to upset you this morning. I just didn't want anyone.... Well, I didn't want you to see me this way. It's a little, uh, embarrassing, I guess."  
  
"Angel.... I think I'd notice if my husband didn't come to bed every night and I didn't see him for days."  
  
"It was stupid."  
  
"Really was."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Buffy leaned forward and kissed Angel's forehead. "Already forgotten." Angel smiled. "Now, you need to go talk to Nina."  
  
"Now!?"  
  
"Yes now."  
  
"Why!?"  
  
"Because, she's locked in her cage. What else does she have to do but talk?"  
  
"Buffy...."  
  
"No. Go. It'll be ok. She's a werewolf. You're a puppet. Stranger things have happened." She patted Angel's hair and walked out of the office. 


	27. Smile Time p2

Chapter 27  
  
"I couldn't get Sean Connery until this weekend." Lorne said.  
  
"Ok." Buffy said, walking with the anagogic demon down the hallways.  
  
"So, you're party will be on Saturday."  
  
"Works for me." Buffy looked up as she heard a battered and torn Angel making his way toward them.  
  
"Buffy.... Lorne...." Angel pleaded, trying to hold his stuffing in.  
  
"My little prince!" Lorne said. Angel groaned and collapsed. Buffy and Lorne ran to his side. "Ohh.... what did they do to you?" Lorne picked up Angel in his arms  
  
"Nina.... tried to.... eat me."  
  
"Medic! You're gonna make it, Angel. Just don't stop fighting. Doctor! Is there a Geppetto in the house?!"  
  
"Drama queens." Buffy said. "Gimme the puppet husband. I'll stitch him up."  
  
"What?" Angel asked.  
  
"Mom was always mending things and I watched her a lot. I know what I'm doing."  
  
"Fine...."  
  
Lorne handed Angel over to Buffy.  
  
***  
  
Wesley and Fred walked into Angel's office as Buffy put the final touches on the stitches. "It's all in the broadcast." Wes said. "Some very nuanced magic, but we found it, finally."  
  
"Angel.... what happened?" Fred asked.  
  
"Uh...nothing." Angel lied. "It's not important. D-doesn't matter. Go on."  
  
"It's a hidden carrier wave masked by a spell that turns the TV into a 2- way conduit with direct access to the viewer."  
  
"That's how he's been draining energy from the children, and judging from the strength of yesterday's signal...." Wes said.  
  
"Framkin's ready to take out the whole audience."  
  
"The object you described in that secret room is most likely a repository for the children's life force. We'll have to break the binding magic on it."  
  
"Which should free those children and.... reverse your puppet problem."  
  
Hearing those words, Angel gasped and rushed to hug Fred with overenthusiastic gratitude. "I love you guys." Fred smiled, not really knowing how to take it. Angel gathered himself together and stepped back. "Oh.... we'd better get moving. Framkin knows we're onto him. If he's ready to zap his whole audience, he'll pull the trigger today for sure."  
  
"Not him. Them." Gunn said, walking in.  
  
"Gunn." Angel said.  
  
"Framkin's not doing this. It's the puppets. They're demons. The show is possessed. 'Smile Time's' ratings hit an all-time low last year. Framkin made a deal with some devils to bring it back to number one."  
  
"You sure of that?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Dead sure. Every contract signed with the lower planes is filed in the Library of Demonic Congress. You just gotta know where to look. Pretty tricky legalese, too. Framkin must have missed some of the fine print."  
  
"Which allowed them to take over everything." Angel said.  
  
"Including Framkin. These particular devils have a fairly distinctive M.O."  
  
"They've done this before?" Fred asked.  
  
"You see the last few seasons of 'Happy Days'? Point is: you wanna take out 'Smile Time', take out the puppets."  
  
Angel walked back to his desk. "Well, then...." He took a sword off the wall and removed it from its scabbard. "Let's take out some puppets."  
  
Buffy giggled. "Oh my God! That was too cute."  
  
Angel groaned. "Buffy!"  
  
"Sorry." She stifled another laugh. "You're just so damn adorable even as a puppet."  
  
"Let's go."  
  
They walked out, weapons in hand.  
  
***  
  
At the studio, Polo the evil puppet was talking to the camera. "That's it, everyone. Just keep your hands right there. Oh! Ohh.... let it go! Let it all go! After all, it's Smile Time!"  
  
"No, it' not...." Polo turned away from the camera to see Angel standing on the set behind him carrying a sword. "It's time to kick your ass all the way back to hell!"  
  
"You!"  
  
Angel swung his sword and let out a primal yell as he leapt toward Polo. He swung the sword at Polo, but missed. Polo punched Angel. The TV show staff acted as if they couldn't see what was going on around them. They were clearly still under some sort of spell.  
  
"Hey, man! You're ruinin' the show!" One of the puppets said.  
  
Buffy swung her sword and decapitated the puppet. "We're workin' on it." Polo was beating up on Angel and knocked the sword from Angel's grip. Polo punched Angel into the dog house. "Angel!"  
  
"Aah!" Polo yelled. "It's a full-scale attack! Ratio, the nest egg!" Angel grabbed Polo and pulled him into the dog house. "Gah!"  
  
Angel and Polo fought inside the dog house. Angel threw Polo out, and Buffy was standing by with her sword. "I got him!" Buffy started to swing the sword at Polo, but the puppet girl jumped her. "Ahhh!" The puppet girl turned out to be a formidable foe. She tried to break Buff's neck, but ended up spinning them off of the stage. They fell to the ground, and the puppet girl let go of Buffy. When she tried to sit up, the puppet girl jumped her from out of the blue, landing on top of her chest.  
  
"Gimme those pretty eyes!" The puppet girl yelled.  
  
"Get off me freak!" Buffy threw the puppet girl back and shot to her feet. She waited for the puppet to attack again and then caught the girl by the neck. She squeezed hard and then stabbed the girl onto the sword.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
With a fast yank, Buffy decapitated the puppet and dropped the body, stuffing and all, to the ground. "Yuck! I really hate puppets!"  
  
"I'm gonna tear you a new puppet hole, bitch!" Polo yelled. He punched Angel. Angel overpowered him and pushed him to the ground and started choking him. "So.... you got a little demon in you."  
  
"I got a lot of demon in me." Angel's forehead went all bumpy and his fangs descended. "Now, come on!" Angel grabbed Polo and threw him into the tree house, breaking the wood railing. Polo fell on the wooden splinters and fell limp. Angel turned and looked at Buffy. She was trying to suppress a giggle fit. "What?"  
  
"You! That face!" Buffy laughed. "It's creepy and adorable at the same time."  
  
Angel returned to normal and glared at the puppet Polo as it hung in the tree house railing. He straightened his collar and jacket, and turned to face Buffy again. "Are you ok?"  
  
Buffy held up the skewered and dismembered body of the puppet girl. "Oh yeah."  
  
Angel smiled. "Let's get out of here. Puppets creep me out."  
  
***  
  
Angel walked up to the apartment. He had gone to check on things at Wolfram and Hart and to get the breakfast he had ordered for Buffy taken up there. Buffy was still asleep in bed, the sheets covering her. He smiled. She really was beautiful when she slept. After a minute, he touched her face gently. "Hey baby."  
  
"Hi." She said, her eyes still closed.  
  
"Good morning."  
  
"It's morning?"  
  
"Well, it's actually afternoon. But who cares, right?"  
  
She smiled and opened her eyes. "You're still a puppet."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"It still takes some getting used to."  
  
"Tell me about it. Wes and Fred say my condition's improving, though."  
  
"When are you gonna change back? This bed is big and lonely without you."  
  
"2, 3 days tops." Angel grabbed Buffy's silk robe and handed it to her. "What are you doing for breakfast?"  
  
"It's past lunch." Buffy joked, slipping on her robe and glancing at the clock.  
  
"What are you doing for brunch then?"  
  
She smiled. "What do puppets eat?"  
  
"Let's find out." Angel held out his hand and Buffy took it.  
  
"This is the weirdest thing ever. My husband's a puppet, but he's giving me chances to dismember creepy puppet people and treating me to surprise brunches in the morning." She grinned. "And making me fall in even more love with you."  
  
"I talked to Nina this morning." Angel pulled out Buffy's chair and allowed her to sit down. "I told her that you and I are married and still very much in love."  
  
"What'd she say?"  
  
"She said she was sorry that she didn't get to me first, but you are a very lucky woman to have me."  
  
"She's not mad?"  
  
"Maybe a little, but she'll get over it."  
  
"Good." Buffy kissed Angel's forehead. "I'm starving. Let's eat." 


	28. A Hole in the World p1

Chapter 28  
  
Buffy shook her head as she walked away from a bickering Spike and Angel. She briefly glanced at Wed and Fred and then back at her husband. He was run through with a sword and a giant bug was attached to it in the back.  
  
"Fuss, fuss. The thing was about to strike." Spike said. "It was on your back. What was I supposed to do?"  
  
"Ask me to turn around." Angel said.  
  
"Heat of battle. There wasn't time."  
  
"You just like stabbing me."  
  
"I-I'm shocked.... shocked that you'd say that. I much prefer hitting you with blunt instruments."  
  
"You know, we only asked you along 'cause we felt sorry for you."  
  
"If it weren't for me, you'd be bug food, so stop winging."  
  
"You know, I'm going to hit you both with blunt instruments AND sharp pointy objects AND sic giant bugs on you if you two don't shut up." Buffy said. "You're giving me a headache!"  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Sorry baby." Angel kissed her cheek.  
  
Fred walked up to Angel. "Angel?"  
  
"Ah, I'll be all right."  
  
"No, I just want the bug. It's in pretty good shape, and I'd like to take it back to the lab. I always like a new specimen."  
  
Buffy yanked the sword out of Angel and the bug dropped to the floor. "OW!" Angel said.  
  
"Hush." Buffy picked up the bug and handed it to Fred. "Here ya go."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
The Slayer turned and looked at Angel. "Come on. I'll bandage you up at home. Just don't bleed all over the car."  
  
***  
  
Buffy sat at Angel's desk reading through one of her textbooks for her mythology class. Spike and Angel were arguing loudly once again across the office.  
  
"It's bollocks, Angel! It's your brand of bollocks from the first to last." Spike yelled.  
  
"No, you can't ever see the big picture. You can't see any picture!" Angel shot back.  
  
"I am talking about something primal. Right? Savagery. Brutal animal instinct."  
  
"And that wins out every time with you. You know, the human race has evolved, Spike!"  
  
"Oh, into a bunch of namby-pamby, self-analyzing wankers who could never hope to...."  
  
"We're bigger. We're smarter. Plus, there's a thing called teamwork, not to mention the superstitious terror of your pure aggressors!"  
  
"You just want it to be the way you want it to be."  
  
"It's not about what I want!"  
  
Wesley walked into the office and stared at them. "Sorry. Is this something we should all be discussing?"  
  
"No." Angel said sheepishly.  
  
"It just.... sounds a little serious."  
  
"It was mostly.... theoretical. We...."  
  
"We were just working out a b...." Spike said.  
  
"The were fighting over who would win if cavemen and astronauts got into a fight." Buffy said.  
  
"I didn't even realize you were there." Wesley said, looking at Buffy.  
  
"Slayer stealth."  
  
"They've been yelling at each other for 40 minutes about this?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"And you've been reading the whole time?"  
  
"You get used to those two. It's like having two little boys always around." Angel and Spike looked hurt.  
  
"What are you reading?"  
  
"My mythology textbook. It's really stupid because half of this crap isn't even true! And the other half is extremely messed up. The legends and dates for some of them are all wrong. I can't understand how I'm supposed to learn this when I already know all of it the way it actually happened."  
  
"There's a debate you could pose in class."  
  
Buffy stood and walked with Wesley. "Yeah, but it's a mythology class. Not debate."  
  
"It doesn't mean that you can't start one."  
  
"Buffy...." Angel started.  
  
"Go back to your argument, sweetie. I'm busy."  
  
"But I needed to talk to you."  
  
"Later." Buffy looked back at Wesley and walked out of the office with him. "So you're saying start a debate out of nowhere?"  
  
"Exactly. The teacher should be impressed."  
  
"That is if he doesn't think I'm crazy first."  
  
"If you like, you can go in my library and find the texts you need to prove those theories wrong."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"It'd be cool to prove that whole textbook wrong. And it'd make me look super smart."  
  
"I'm glad I can help out."  
  
"What were you coming into the office to say?"  
  
"Oh!" Wesley handed her the file he was carrying. "This is Lindsey McDonald's file. Gunn's located him and is keeping tabs on him. He suggested that Angel look into it because Lindsey may have had other schemes planned."  
  
"I'll tell him."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"So how are you and Fred doing?"  
  
"You know about us?"  
  
"Who doesn't?"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Well, it was obvious to me. Maybe because Fred came and talked to me about making a move on you."  
  
"She talked to you?"  
  
"Yeah! I'm the only girl almost her age that understands what she's going through."  
  
"And you said....?"  
  
"I told her to go for it because you, just like all the other males in this facility, are completely dense and you couldn't see the subtle moves she was throwing your way."  
  
"Oh. Thank you."  
  
"Anytime." Buffy smiled. "I'll give this to Angel."  
  
"Do you have classes today?"  
  
"No. I'm free today."  
  
"Will you help me pick out a gift for Fred later? I want to take her out for dinner."  
  
"Sure. I'd love to." Buffy walked out, muttering to herself, "At least someone around here is getting spontaneous gifts."  
  
Back in the office, Spike was gone and Angel was sitting at his desk reading a file. Buffy set the file Wesley had given her on top of the one he was reading. He picked it up. "What's this?"  
  
"Lindsey's file. Gunn and Wes thought you might like to look into it. They think he may have had other schemes on the side."  
  
"Oh. Ok."  
  
"Now what did you want to talk to me about before you and Spike started going at it?"  
  
"Spike, actually."  
  
"What about him?" Buffy walked over to the couch and sat down.  
  
Angel followed. "I want to get rid of him."  
  
"Why!? That's unfair."  
  
"No. He's not needed here Buffy."  
  
"Yes he is."  
  
"Why? Because you want him here?"  
  
"It's more than that. He's been a major help to me and to you. He was right last night. That bug would've eaten your head off if he hadn't been there. I was too busy skewering one of the others to help you."  
  
"Buffy...."  
  
"No." Buffy got up and started to walk away.  
  
"He can go to another place. He can have anything he wants. I'll gladly give it to him. But this isn't working. I can't exactly stand having him around anymore."  
  
"You're jealous."  
  
"No I'm not."  
  
"You are. I've been spending all this time with him and you can't stand that!"  
  
"Buf...."  
  
"No! Just admit it. You're jealous of Spike."  
  
"All right. Maybe a little. But you know I'm right. He can't stick around here anymore."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because he just can't."  
  
"Because you want me all to yourself and you know it's not going to happen with him around." Buffy kneeled in front of Angel and took his hands. "Baby, he can never have me. I'm yours and you know it."  
  
"But you and Spike have history."  
  
"Yeah. One incredibly messed up night in an abandoned house that I completely regret and I can't even stand thinking about it." She touched his face. "You're the only man I think about. I gave you everything I have and that's never going to change. I love you." She stood. "Do what you want, but I doubt Spike will leave." With that, she headed up to the penthouse.  
  
***  
  
Buffy and Wesley were walking through Wolfram and Hart later that day disusing possible gift ideas. Fred and Lorne were walking down the hallway as Wesley and Buffy walked up the stairs.  
  
"Hey there." Fred said.  
  
"I was just on my way to thinking of an excuse to come and see you." Wesley said.  
  
"And how is that working out?"  
  
"Really great. Where are you coming from?"  
  
"Oh, medical. I breathed some old mummy dust. Had to make sure I didn't discover any new germs."  
  
"Are you ok?" Buffy asked.  
  
"They shooed me right off. Mummy free."  
  
"Good. I was hoping to take you out tomorrow night, and I don't feature you wrapped in bandages." Wesley said.  
  
"Take me out where?"  
  
"Can it be a secret?"  
  
"Oh, sheesh." Lorne stepped between them to walk down the stairs. "Get a balcony, you two, huh?"  
  
"You'll still find me for lunch, though, right?" Fred asked.  
  
"I'll just look where the sun shines." Lorne began to sing. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine...."  
  
"You make me happy...."  
  
The instant Fred started singing, Lorne stopped in his tracks and turned back to Fred in horror. A moment later, Fred coughed up blood and collapsed, falling down the stairs. Buffy caught her, and Wesley rushed to her side as she began convulsing in their arms.  
  
"Get medical." Buffy said.  
  
"Someone get medical NOW!" Wesley yelled.  
  
***  
  
Fred was lying in a hospital bed in a private room at Wolfram & Hart. The sheets and blankets were a pale blue, and x-rays were hanging on the wall. Gunn, Spike, Wesley, Lorne, Angel, Dawn and Knox were gathered around her bed when she came to. Buffy was sitting on the bed with Fred.  
  
"Hey there." Buffy said. "You gave us one hell of a scare."  
  
"Yeah, you just need to rest. The lab is doing some blood work." Angel said.  
  
"I'm a mummy, aren't I?" Fred asked.  
  
"I've fought plenty of mummies, and none of 'em were as pretty as you. Almost none." Spike said.  
  
"Now y'all are being too comforting. What's really up?"  
  
"You're sick, and you're making it worse by worrying." Gunn said.  
  
"We've got that sarcophagus under the scope." Knox said. "If it gave you anything, we'll isolate it in a few hours."  
  
"So, you don't know what it is?" Fred asked.  
  
"Yet." Dawn said. "We will."  
  
"Ok."  
  
"We're gonna work this. Shouldn't take long." Angel said.  
  
"Handsome man saves me."  
  
"That's how it works. Let's get crackin'."  
  
Buffy kissed Fred's forehead. "Get better, ok?" Then she followed her husband and the others minus Wesley out.  
  
Angel had paused at the door. "Wes and Fred?"  
  
"You didn't know?"  
  
"I didn't know."  
  
"Come on. Give them their moment." Buffy took Angel's hand and led him down the hall a little ways. Angel grabbed her tightly to him and kissed her forehead. "What?"  
  
"I'm just glad you're ok."  
  
"I know."  
  
"I don't know what I'd do if I lost you again."  
  
Buffy leaned into Angel and kissed him gently. "You won't get to find out anytime soon."  
  
Wesley walked down the hallway toward them. "How is she handling it?" Angel asked.  
  
"She's smarter than all of us put together. She knows it's bad." Wesley said. They walked down the hall and met up with Gunn, Spike, Knox, Dawn, and Lorne.  
  
"How bad? What do we know?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Whatever she's got, it doesn't match up with any of the pathogens in our archives." Knox said.  
  
"It's mystical, and it's not ours." Dawn clarified.  
  
"What about the sarcophagus?" Buffy asked.  
  
"My team is cross-checking the symbols, but it's also new territory for us." Wesley said.  
  
"Angel, what exactly is happening to her?" Dawn asked. "You talked to the doctor...."  
  
"They have something?" Wesley asked.  
  
Angel stopped walking and turned to face the others who were gathered around him in a loose circle. "Yeah, I, uh.... Some parasitic agent is working its way through. I mean, as near as they can tell...."  
  
"Get to the point."  
  
"Her organs are cooking. In a days time, they'll liquefy."  
  
"No." Spike said. "Not this girl. Not this day."  
  
"Look, Wes, you gotta tell me what was in that box. I need a name, a history, anything."  
  
"We can't get it open." Dawn said. "Not even the lasers...."  
  
"Where did it come from?" Wesley asked.  
  
"It just showed up." Knox said. "No return address. Didn't recognize the guy who brought it in.... come to think of it, in the middle of the night."  
  
"This was deliberate." Buffy said.  
  
"Senior partners?" Lorne asked.  
  
"Doesn't add up, but I'll hit the White Room. Talk to the conduit." Gunn said.  
  
"Now, look, if the senior partners didn't do this, you gotta get them to help us." Angel said.  
  
"Any way I can."  
  
"What about Doyle.... uh, Lindsey?" Spike asked. "The man likes to play his games."  
  
"I was looking to work the streets, and we've got his address. For all we know, he's probably sitting there laughing. And if there's muscle work to do...."  
  
"Let's make it thrice as fast." Spike said, nodding at Buffy.  
  
"And baby makes four." Lorne said. "In case anybody feels like singing."  
  
"Good. Guys...." Angel said.  
  
"You don't have to say it." Wesley said.  
  
"I'll say it anyway. Winifred Burkle. Go."  
  
They all walked off in their respective directions. 


	29. A Hole in the World p2

Chapter 29  
  
Buffy leaned against the balcony railing watching Angel and Spike walk back and forth. "No sign of Lindsey." Spike said.  
  
"Look for plans." Buffy said.  
  
Angel opened the doors to the apartment and walked in. "Well, I'll be damned all over again." Buffy walked in behind her husband and found Eve sitting in bed, wearing a man's button-up dress shirt. She clutched the sheets to her body to cover herself and recoiled toward the headboard.  
  
"Don't touch me." Eve said.  
  
"Hiding out from the senior partners, Eve?" Buffy asked. "How many sick days do you get before they dock you?"  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"Fred's dying. Some mystical parasite. Ring a bell?"  
  
"No, I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"What about your boyfriend, luv? You got some wacky scheme brewin'?" Spike asked. "Sending coffins about?"  
  
"You three stay away from me."  
  
Buffy leaned in close to Eve and stared straight into her eyes. "Look, Eve, this happens quickly or very, very slowly. Ready?" Eve nodded. "A sarcophagus. Older than anything we know."  
  
"Lindsey and I had nothing to do with that. I'm not lying. I-I'm not. Have you.... heard from him? About him?"  
  
"Oh, this is truly poetical." Spike said.  
  
"You're not saying what we need to hear." Angel said.  
  
"Why would we do anything to Fred?" Eve started to stand up. "Why would we even care about her....?"  
  
Buffy punched Eve back onto the bed and Lorne walked in, saying, "Ooh. That was a knuckle-buster. Here's the thing, Eve: You're going to sing for me, and I'm going to read you right now. And here's one more thing: Winifred Burkle once told me after a sinful amount of Chinese food, and in lieu of absolutely nothing, 'I think a lot of people would choose to be green. Your shade, if they had the choice.' If I hear one note.... one quarter-note.... that tells me you had any involvement, these three won't even have time to kill you. Oh, and anything by Diana Warren will also result in your death.... well, except 'Rhythm of the Night.'"  
  
"I wanna help. I swear to you. I've got nothing against Fred."  
  
Buffy lifted Eve to her feet harshly by her arm. "Say it.... with a song in your heart." Eve sighed and began to sing. "Pretty as a picture. She is like a golden ring."  
  
"She's clean." Lorne said.  
  
"You've been wrong before." Angel said.  
  
"Yeah, and I might be now, but she reads clean. Her future's not too bright, but...."  
  
"What do you mean?" Eve asked.  
  
"Well, nothin's written in stone.... Lately..... but, uh, if I was about to face your future, I'd make like Carmen Miranda.... and die."  
  
"Wait. Please. Are you going to tell the senior partners where I am?"  
  
"Hell of a bargaining chip." Spike said.  
  
"No, they can't help you. I mean it. If you're talking about a sarcophagus that doesn't match anything in our records.... there's nothing that's not in our records except what came before. The old ones."  
  
"The original demons. Before human kind. They were all driven out of this dimension." Angel said.  
  
"The ones that were still alive. But long before that, they were killing each other all the time, and they don't die the way we do. Wesley may not know it, but his source books can conjure up anything, not just our own stock. Tell him to look for the texts that are forgotten, the oldest scrolls. You need to find the Deeper Well."  
  
Buffy looked at Lorne and he nodded. "Take a shower." Buffy tossed Eve back on the bed and walked out with Angel, Spike, and Lorne.  
  
***  
  
They all sat in Wesley's office listening to what he and Dawn had learned. "It's called Illyria, a great monarch and warrior of the demon age murdered by rivals and left adrift in the Deeper Well." Dawn said.  
  
"Which is what?" Angel asked.  
  
"A burial ground, a resting place of all the remaining old ones." Wesley said.  
  
"This one ain't restin'." Gunn said.  
  
"No."  
  
"I don't think this is just an infection." Dawn said. "Fred's skin is.... hardening like a shell. I think she's being hollowed out so this thing can use her to claw its way back into the world."  
  
"That's speculation. Either way, she dies."  
  
"Do we have any chance of finding this Deeper Well?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I already have. It's in England, in the Cotswolds. That's the location, to the inch."  
  
"That's near Giles." Buffy said.  
  
"Lorne, tell Harmony to prep the jet." Angel said. "We can be there in 10 hours."  
  
"You can be there in 4." Knox said. "We have really good jets."  
  
"It will have a guardian, maybe several." Wesley said.  
  
"I say bring em on." Buffy said.  
  
"How do we know goin' there's gonna do squat?" Gunn asked.  
  
"The Deeper Well is almost like a prison for the dead." Wesley said. "If something gets out, it's written it can be drawn back from the source."  
  
"That's our shot." Angel said.  
  
"We'll keep working here, but, yes, I think it is."  
  
"If nobody thinks it's too ridiculous, I'm going to pray." Lorne said.  
  
"No, it's appreciated. Time is not on our side."  
  
"Nobody's on our side." Spike said.  
  
"Come on. Let's save the day." Angel said. He, Buffy, and Spike walked out.  
  
***  
  
Buffy paced the jet while Spike sat nervously in his seat. Angel glanced out the window a couple of times. He didn't much like flying. "I've never flown before." Spike said.  
  
"It's not so bad." Angel said, gripping the armrests.  
  
"Back to the mother country. Hey, after we save Fred, we should hit the West End, take in a show."  
  
"I've never seen Les Mis."  
  
"Trust me, half way through the first act, you'll be drinking humans again."  
  
"Can't lose her, Spike."  
  
"We won't."  
  
"We lost Cordy." Buffy said quietly. "We lost Anya. I can't lose anymore."  
  
The pilot came out of the cockpit. "Excuse me, Mrs. Summers, but you need to sit down. We've got some turbulence up ahead."  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
"It's for your safety, ma'am."  
  
Buffy wheeled on him, her eyes flashing. "Go do your job and leave me the hell alone. I said I'm fine." The pilot looked frightened and went back to the cockpit.  
  
***  
  
Buffy, Angel, and Spike walked through a grove of trees in the foggy moonlight. "When is a door not a door? When it's not soddin'-well there." Spike said.  
  
"Right there." Angel said. They looked at a large tree. "You wanna bet that's the entrance to the Deeper Well?"  
  
"Either that, or Christmasland." Buffy said. Angel had a blank look.  
  
"Do you ever have any fun?" Spike asked. Armored men wielding swords rushed out of the tree, growling.  
  
"I'm about to." Angel said.  
  
"And they even brought us weapons." Buffy said.  
  
"Strategy?" Spike asked.  
  
"Just hold my hand." Angel said.  
  
Buffy stared at them. "Do you two need a moment?"  
  
Spike raised an eyebrow, but reached out to take Angel's hand. He smiled slightly. "St. Petersburg."  
  
"Thought you'd forgotten." Angel said.  
  
Angel and Spike let go of each others' hands, dropping a length of wire between them. As the armored creatures approached, Spike and Angel stepped apart and pulled the wire taut. The demons ran into the wire, getting clothes-lined by it, cutting off their heads. Buffy, Angel, and Spike took the swords from the first demons and used them to fight off the next group of demons coming at them. There were a dozen of them now, but the three were fighting them off skillfully. After two more waves, Buffy and Angel finished off the last two.  
  
"Is that all? We haven't even started!" Angel called.  
  
A man appeared at the tree gateway and walked out toward Angel. "I'd say that's enough."  
  
"Drogyn."  
  
"Angel."  
  
"You're the keeper of the well."  
  
"Have been for decades."  
  
"Well, who in the bloody...." Spike started.  
  
"Do not ask me a question." Drogyn said. "If you ever ask me a single question, I will kill you outright. Don't think for a moment that I can't."  
  
"He can. He would." Angel said.  
  
"Huh?" Spike asked.  
  
"You're here about Illyria." Drogyn said to Angel.  
  
"Yes." Buffy said.  
  
"Walk in."  
  
"But how...." Spike started.  
  
"I just said to you, not one moment ago, don't ask."  
  
"Seriously. He doesn't like questions." Angel said.  
  
"Why not?" Buffy asked with a smirk.  
  
"He can't lie."  
  
"Good reason."  
  
Drogyn led the way into the Deeper Well holding a torch. Buffy, Angel, and Spike followed in the firelight. "I would never have thought you'd end up here, Angel." Drogyn said.  
  
"I could say the same." Angel said.  
  
"So, you two know each other." Spike said. Drogyn glared at him. "That was a statement. I already know that you do."  
  
"I'll tell you as much as I can. The old ones were demons pure. They warred as we would breathe.... endlessly. The greater ones were interred, for death was not always their end. Illyria was feared and beloved as few are. It was laid to death in the very depths of the well.... until it disappeared a month ago."  
  
"Someone took it from under your nose a month ago, and you didn't miss it 'til now? That makes you quite the crap jailer, doesn't it." Drogyn glared again at Spike. "Also a statement."  
  
"Your friend likes to talk."  
  
"So much, he's even right sometimes." Angel said. "The man I remember couldn't be stolen from so easily."  
  
"The tomb was not stolen. It disappeared. I believe it was pre-destined to as part of Illyria's escape plan. And as for my not noticing." Drogyn extinguished his torch in a tub of water at the entrance of another chamber. "Well, my charges are not few."  
  
Buffy, Angel, and Spike followed Drogyn into the chamber. They were standing on a bridge. When they looked over to see what the bridge spanned, they saw an endless pit lined with thousands of coffins just like the sarcophagus delivered to Wolfram & Hart.  
  
"Bloody hell." Spike said.  
  
"How far does this go down?" Angel asked.  
  
"All the way. All the way through the Earth." Drogyn said.  
  
"So, the coffin disappeared, teleported, but it was brought to us." Buffy said.  
  
"Illyria was a great power.... so great that, after millions of years dead, somewhere on this Earth still has acolytes. It's been freed.... the demon's essence."  
  
"Yeah. Why do you think we're here?" Buffy shot at Drogyn. Drogyn glared at Buffy. She looked royally pissed and decided to keep going. "And what's your favorite color? What's your favorite song? Who's the goalkeeper for Manchester United? And how many fingers am I holdin' up?" Buffy flipped him off. "You wanna kill me? I'd love to see you try. But right now, I don't have time for your quirks."  
  
"The power to draw back Illyria lies in there. It requires a champion who has traveled from where it lies to where it belongs."  
  
"You got three of those right here." Angel said, taking Buffy's hand.  
  
"But I didn't know it was free. If we bring the sarcophagus back to the well, it will draw Illyria out of your friend.... and into every single person between here and there. It will become the mystical equivalent of airborne. It will claw into every soul in its path to keep from being trapped. Entire cities.... tens maybe hundreds of thousands will die in agony if you save her."  
  
"No."  
  
"That's madness." Spike said.  
  
"This is a place of madness." Drogyn said. "I'll prepare the spell. Your choice."  
  
Angel looked at Buffy. Her eyes were welling with tears. "To hell with the world."  
  
"No." Buffy said suddenly. "We can't." She began to cry. "We can't kill all those people. I desperately want to save Fred, I do, but we can't lose all those people. We just can't." She took a step back and bumped into Spike. He touched her shoulder and she fell into him sobbing. "We can't."  
  
"Spike...." Angel said.  
  
"This goes all the way through to the other side." Spike said, glancing over the side of the bridge, still holding Buffy. "So, I figure, there's a bloke somewhere around New Zealand standing on a bridge like this one, looking back down at us. All the way down. There's a hole in the world. Feels like we ought to have known."  
  
Angel touched Buffy's back and she turned to him. He held her tightly and fought back tears as he stared at Spike. 


	30. Shells p1

Chapter 30  
  
Buffy sat in the back of the airplane curled in on herself. She was on the floor in the corner, knees up to her chest and head buried in her arms. They had allowed Fred to die. They had allowed Illyria to take over their friend and come into this world. Spike was sitting closer to her, but he was more occupied with getting drunk. Angel was sitting facing away from them, brooding. Spike emptied another Jack Daniels and set it on a table with about ten other tiny, empty bottles and picked up another full one.  
  
"Can't even get drunk." Spike said. "Why would anyone ever make a bottle this small? It's inhuman. Thousands would have died if we'd saved her."  
  
"Yeah." Angel said.  
  
"She wouldn't have wanted that."  
  
"Yeah. I tried calling Wes. There was no answer."  
  
"I guess she's gone, then. It's like a bloody tease. It's like, 'Here's what a bottle of Jack would look like if you actually had one,' or, 'here's a drink, but it's very far away.'" Spike held the bottle at arm's length and then held his other hand to his brow like he was looking into a telescope.  
  
"What does that mean? Really?"  
  
"It's a play on perspective."  
  
"Gone. What does it mean that she's gone?"  
  
"Well, in the world of men, a person dies, they stay that way."  
  
"Unless you're a vampire."  
  
"Or the ghost of one that saved the world."  
  
Buffy looked up. "Or me! Death doesn't have to be the end, not in our world. Rules can be broken. All you have to do.... is push hard enough." Both vampires looked at her. "We have to find Willow. She can bring back Fred."  
  
"Do you think she'll do it?" Angel asked.  
  
"She has to."  
  
***  
  
Wesley pulled his handgun out of his shoulder holster, pointed it at a tied up Knox in Angel's office, and cocked it.  
  
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"Do you know?" Wesley asked, choking up. "You didn't feel her die. She was shaking with pain and terrified and so brave. And she was better than anyone I've known, and better than.... and she's gone."  
  
"I know." Buffy said. Wes put the gun down when he saw Buffy, Angel, and Spike in the doorway. "Now let's get her back."  
  
Twenty minutes later, everyone was gathered in Angel's office. Angel had just told them what had happened in England, leaving out the part about letting Fred die. "So that's it?" Gunn asked. "England was a bust?"  
  
"Not entirely." Angel said. "We found out where the sarcophagus came from. There were thousands of them."  
  
"Minus one." Spike said.  
  
"What about this Drogyn guy?" Dawn asked. "He wouldn't help?"  
  
"Couldn't. We were too late." Angel said.  
  
"I should've seen it." Lorne said. "Knox. He sang for me and I should've seen this."  
  
"It's not your fault." Buffy said.  
  
"If I had concentrated harder, read him better, maybe Fred...."  
  
"Look, there's a lot we might have done, all right? Starting with never coming to Wolfram & Hart in the first place. We can beat ourselves up over it later, but right now...."  
  
"I'm sorry, Blondie. I, um.... I got nothing." Lorne stood. "I'm sorry." He walked out.  
  
"Lorne...."  
  
"No, let him go." Spike said. "If he's doubting himself, he won't be any good to us."  
  
"Lorne's right." Gunn said. "We should have seen this coming."  
  
"Ah, it wouldn't have made a difference." Angel said. "Drogyn said the sarcophagus was preordained to be released. Nothing could have stopped it from arriving."  
  
"That's not completely true. I played a round of piñata with lab boy while you were gone. The sarcophagus was stuck in customs and it should have stayed there, but someone got it out."  
  
"Who?" Wesley asked.  
  
"I'm working on it."  
  
"Oh, you're working on it? Good for you, Charles. Not a moment to lose."  
  
"Wes...." Buffy walked over to him and took his hand. "I know you're hurting, but keep your footing. We need you sharp, all of you, for Fred's sake."  
  
"There is no Fred anymore."  
  
"You don't know that." Gunn said.  
  
"I watched it gut her from the inside out. Everything she was is gone. There is nothing left but a shell."  
  
"Then we'll figure out a way to fill it back up." Angel said.  
  
"The thing only took over her body. Just a tip of the theological." Spike said.  
  
"It's the soul that matters." Buffy said, looking at her vampires.  
  
"What about her...." Gunn tried. "If her organs have been liquefied?"  
  
"Flash fried in a pillar of fire saving the world. I got better." Spike said.  
  
"You really believe there's a chance of bringing her back?" Wesley asked, looking at Buffy.  
  
Buffy looked at Wesley grimly. "I'm here. Besides, Fred's soul is out there somewhere. We'll find it, and we'll put it back where it belongs. Then we'll make every son of a bitch who had a hand in this pay. We all on the same page?"  
  
"Are you back?" Dawn asked.  
  
"With a vengeance."  
  
"Where do we start?" Gunn asked.  
  
"We need the big guns."  
  
"Willow." Wesley said.  
  
"Won't be the first time she rattled the dead. Last time I heard she was in South America." Spike said.  
  
"Then we'll track her down and get her here as soon as we can." Angel said.  
  
"In the meantime, we need to contain Illyria." Buffy said. "Wes, you're the only one who had contact. Any idea where she's headed?" Wesley shook his head. "It's ok. We'll figure this out." Buffy pulled out her cell phone. "I'll try Willow. You guys get on whatever you need to get on." The Slayer dialed Willow's number, but no one picked up. After trying a few more times, she gave up.  
  
"Not there?" Angel asked.  
  
"I'm calling Giles. Maybe she moved again." Buffy called her ex-Watcher. "It's me. Buffy. Giles, I don't have time for formalities. I need Willow. As in now. What do you mean I can't reach her? She's in the Himalayas? I thought she was in South America." Buffy took a deep breath and glanced at Angel who was watching her. "All right, look.... What do you mean she's not on this plane? You just said.... Astral projection? Well, is there any way to get her astral ass over to L.A.? Giles, this is an emergency. No. No, I'm not going.... Don't you dare put me on hold. Yes, I'm back at Wolfram & Hart. What does that have to do with anything? Would you just.... Giles, shut up and listen to me for once! Giles? Giles!? God damn it!" Buffy let out a scream and threw the phone against the wall, shattering it. "That stubborn son of a bitch!" The Slayer turned and looked at everyone else. "We're on our own."  
  
"Good, cause I was wondering." Spike said.  
  
"Nothing's changed, all right? We find Illyria and...."  
  
"Smack her a good one for me." Harmony said, walking in. She pointed to her bruised cheek, annoyed. "So gonna leave a mark."  
  
"She's here?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Duh!"  
  
"Where!?"  
  
"The lab."  
  
"Angel...."  
  
"I'll gather the ops." Angel said, headed to the phone.  
  
"I'll get Illyria." Buffy walked out.  
  
"Buffy, wait!"  
  
The Slayer marched to the lab, Gunn, Spike, and Wesley mere steps behind her. Angel and the ops caught up a minute later and they all strode into the lab. "I'm ready to begin." Illyria said.  
  
"Or we could just hang out." Angel said.  
  
"A warrior. I was beginning to wonder if this world was void of your kind."  
  
"Plenty of us to go around." Buffy said.  
  
"You are just a mere child."  
  
"You're gonna wish that."  
  
"Two half-breeds, a little girl, and a band of primitives. Is this all that challenges me now?"  
  
"That, and a whole lot of bullets." Angel said. The guards cocked their machine guns and pointed them at Illyria.  
  
"Enough to temporarily incapacitate even you." Wesley said.  
  
Buffy took a step forward. "We know what you are, Illyria. We've seen the rest of your kind. All the old ones, sealed away forever, like you were. Where you should've stayed. You've taken something of ours, something very precious. Stand down and I promise we won't destroy you taking it back. Your choice."  
  
"I decline." Illyria grabbed Angel, who was closer to her than Buffy and threw him through the window.  
  
"Angel!" Buffy yelled. She looked at Illyria. "That's two!" The Slayer went to attack Illyria, but she got slightly dizzy and a second later, Illyria was gone. "What the hell?"  
  
"Where'd she go?" Spike asked.  
  
"I don't know." Buffy ran out and got to the lobby just as the elevator doors opened and a bloody Angel got off.  
  
He looked at Buffy as she threw herself into his arms. He winced, but didn't disappoint her with a tight hug. "I'm ok. What do you got?"  
  
"Smoke and mirrors." Spike said, walking down the steps with Wesley.  
  
"No trace of either of them." Wesley said.  
  
Gunn walked in. "I put tactical on Code Black. If Illyria shows up again...."  
  
"She won't. She got what she came for." Buffy said.  
  
"Knox?" Harmony asked.  
  
"And some spiffy new threads." Spike said.  
  
"Any idea how she got past you?" Dawn asked.  
  
"One second she was standing there, the next, poof." Buffy said.  
  
"She's a teleporter?" Angel asked.  
  
"I don't think so." Wesley said. "No characteristic displacement of the atmosphere around her."  
  
"I fancied I saw a blur just before she went Houdini." Spike said.  
  
"Yeah, like she was pulling a Barry Allen." Gunn said. Angel looked at him, not recognizing the name. Gunn looked around at the others. "Jay Garrick? Wally.... Like she was moving really fast."  
  
"Or we were moving very slow." Buffy said. "Great. She's super strong and she can alter time."  
  
"Well, that's not fair." Harmony said.  
  
"It makes it complicated, but doesn't change what we need to do. Wes, take the lab apart. Check Knox's files, the sarcophagus, anything that can help us get Fred back."  
  
"I'll go with." Dawn said. "I helped Fred, I know where everything is at." Harmony followed Wes. "Come on. I got a degree in tearing things up."  
  
"Never a truer word." Spike said.  
  
"I got a few contacts I could try, see if anything shakes loose." Gunn said, walking off.  
  
"Great. Do it." Angel said. He looked at Buffy and Spike. "See if we can track her down, figure out where she's headed now." They headed to Angel's office.  
  
"Any thoughts on how we're supposed to track Fred or Illyria or whatever the hell that thing was?" Spike asked.  
  
"We just do it, that's all."  
  
"Back in the lab, she was standing right there in front of me, but there was no scent. Nothing. It's like she wasn't even there." "I know."  
  
"Look.... I want Fred back as much as any of us.... but seeing her there, like that.... maybe she really is...."  
  
"Stop. No. Just stop it! Fred is NOT gone. We are going to find a way to bring her back if I have to kidnap Willow and drag her here. I am not losing another friend. I lost Cordelia because some thing violated her. It crawled inside and used her up. No way in hell am I letting that happen again. I will NOT fail anyone ever, EVER again."  
  
"I've never seen you this fired up."  
  
"You've never seen me lose someone I care about and it be my.... My fault." Buffy struggled to hold in her tears, but Angel touched her back and she turned to let him hold her. She refused to cry, but she just wanted to be held.  
  
Before they could leave a few minutes later, a secretary came in and informed them that Gunn was in medical because Wesley had stabbed him. The Slayer went to check on Gunn. He was quiet and asleep in bed. Gathering her wits, Buffy hardened once again and stormed into Wesley's office. She slammed him against the wall hard. "What the hell did you do?"  
  
"What I had to." Wesley said.  
  
"I don't remember seeing 'Stab Gunn' on the agenda this morning." Angel said.  
  
"I avoided the major organs. He'll probably live."  
  
Buffy slammed Wesley to the wall again. "Is that supposed to make it all right?"  
  
"Nothing is all right! Nothing will ever be all right."  
  
"We'll get her back, Wes."  
  
"No, we won't. Fred's soul...." Wesley broke down into tears. "Her soul was destroyed resurrecting Illyria."  
  
"Are you sure?" Wes nodded and walked away. "What about Gunn?"  
  
"He let the sarcophagus into Wolfram & Hart. What he knew, when he knew it, it doesn't change what happened! He let her die."  
  
"So did I." Wes looked up at Buffy. "At the Well in England, there was a way to save Fred, but only if thousands of others died in her place. As much as I love Fred, I couldn't let that happen." Buffy walked up to Wes and hugged him. She looked him in the eyes. "Look, I need you to bury it. Everything you're feeling, everyone you wanna hurt. I need you to put it aside and focus on what has to be done."  
  
"Illyria."  
  
"We need to stop her before...."  
  
"She unleashes hell on Earth?" Spike appeared at the doorway, wiping his bloody hands on a towel. He had been torturing the doctor Gunn had talked to while Buffy had checked on Gunn.  
  
"What'd you get out of the doctor?" Angel asked.  
  
"Screams. Various fluids. And a name: Vahla ha'nesh."  
  
"Vahla ha'nesh. What does that mean?"  
  
"I think I know." Wesley said. 


	31. Shells p2

Chapter 31  
  
Wesley put a book on the table, opened to a page with a drawing of a temple with a statue inside. The statue was enormous, as tall as the temple's ceiling. It had four arms and its body was composed of snake-like creatures coiled around a torso, having dozens of snake-tails where feet should be. The statue was holding two bladed weapons. In the background, thousands of dots filled the temple floor.  
  
"It's her temple. This is where she was supposed to be resurrected." Wesley said.  
  
"That's Illyria?" Buffy asked.  
  
"In its native form."  
  
"What are these smaller bits?" Spike asked, pointing at the dots.  
  
"Her army of doom."  
  
"There's a shock."  
  
"They were entombed with her." Angel said.  
  
"Waiting for her return." Wesley said.  
  
"To Los Angeles?" Buffy asked.  
  
"This is where her temple was millions of years ago, and it's still here."  
  
"Well, you think growing up here, I would've remembered seeing something like this parked next to The Beverly Center."  
  
"It's out of phase with our time stream. Only Illyria can open the gateway."  
  
"Ok, now here's the kicker: Any idea how we stop her?"  
  
"We fight her."  
  
"We tried that." Angel said. "I got thrown out a window and she altered time on you guys."  
  
"But now we have this." Wesley pulled out a crystal and held it up. "It's from her sarcophagus. I believe that whoever wields this is immune to her powers."  
  
Buffy held out her hand. "Please allow me to kick this bitch's ass."  
  
"You're the only one truly strong enough." Wesley handed her the crystal. "I've never seen you with such brute strength."  
  
"It was the spell that Willow did. I think it doubled my powers." Buffy looked at her guys. "Are we ready?"  
  
"Let's go." Angel said.  
  
They walked out of Wesley's office and into Buffy's weapons room. As they gathered weapons, Wesley stopped Buffy. "I'm glad you're back in this. Fred would be too."  
  
"I figured I wouldn't be able to stay away." Buffy said, picking up a pair of sais and twirling them expertly. "Besides, how could I neglect all these pretty, shiny toys?"  
  
***  
  
Illyria stood back as Knox performed a spell using a pile of small bones on the floor in front of him at the bank. He watched as the bones disappeared. "Showtime." He said.  
  
"Any seats left?" Buffy asked. Knox and Illyria turned quickly and found Buffy, Angel, Spike, and Wesley standing there. "If not, we could just stand in the back."  
  
"Guys, you should scan the headlines here. You can't win this."  
  
"Then we all die trying." Wesley said.  
  
"Why?" Illyria asked.  
  
"You want the short version?" Angel asked. "Let's start with you walking around looking like the woman you murdered."  
  
"You think your actions will restore her?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Yet you seek a confrontation you cannot win."  
  
"What you're trying to do, raise your army, reclaim your world, innocent people would die. Like Fred. I can't let that happen." Buffy said.  
  
"You are the protector of these creatures?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You'd fight for their lives?"  
  
"I have everyday of my life for the past nine years."  
  
"Even this one?" Illyria nodded at Knox.  
  
"Is that an issue?" Knox asked. "Is my life in peril, boss? King?"  
  
"You're about as low as it gets, Knox, but you're a part of humanity." Buffy said. "That isn't always pretty, I know, but it's a hell of a lot better than what came before. And if it comes down to a choice between you and him, then yes, I would fight for his life, just like any other human's. Because that's what people do. That's what makes us...." A gunshot echoed in the room. Knox looked down at his chest to see he was bleeding from a gunshot wound to the heart. He collapsed and Buffy looked at Wes who was holding the smoking gun. "Were you even listening?"  
  
"You've destroyed my Qwa'ha Xahn." Illyria said.  
  
"Yeah, ok, but you gotta admit, he had it coming." Spike said.  
  
"It offends me that you think he matters."  
  
"You're right. He's not the problem." Angel said.  
  
"You are." Buffy swung her sword at Illyria, but she ducked. They began to fight and the others joined in.  
  
Illyria threw Buffy across the room. She punched Angel in the chest, knocking him into the opposite wall. Spike went to ram her from behind, but she turned and kicked him to the opposite wall. When Wesley shot at her, she kicked Knox's body at him, knocking him down. Angel got to his feet and started swinging his sword at her, but she outmaneuvered him, ducking his blows and kicking him across the floor. Spike came at her next, swinging his sword, but Illyria avoided his swings as well. Buffy got to her feet and came at Illyria, who was now fighting her and Spike off. When they swung at her, she grabbed both blades simultaneously with her bare hands, and she swung the two off the end of the swords, flinging them against opposite walls.  
  
Illyria threw the swords to the ground. "Unimpressive."  
  
As Wesley got to his feet, Illyria waved her hand, creating another slow- motion time wave before he could fire at her again. Spike tried to get to his feet with Angel, and Buffy reached into her pocket. Illyria turned to continue with the portal opening, but stopped when she saw Buffy standing in front of her in the flash of an eye.  
  
"What's the rush?" Buffy punched Illyria hard in the face, sending her across the room.  
  
"How?"  
  
Buffy revealed she was holding the crystal in her fist. "From your sarcophagus. It's connected to you, I'm connected to it."  
  
"Sneaky." Illyria swung her leg at Buffy's ankles, knocking her to the ground. Angel swung at Illyria as she got to her feet, but she punched him hard in the gut. Wesley saw that she was about to make a run for it and shot at her, but her hands were out in front of her, and she was opening the portal. As Illyria made a dash for the portal, Buffy and Wesley dove into it after her, managing to get through just as it closed. Angel and Spike got to their feet too late.  
  
Wesley landed on the floor of the temple on his belly and his gun slipped out of his grip. Buffy rolled skillfully to her feet and then help Wesley get to his feet as Illyria walked up the steps commandingly, heading for the nave of the temple. "You're too late." She said. "My army will rise. This world will be mine once again." She arrived at the nave of the temple, only to see her statue has been toppled and her army is dead. "No." Illyria looked around the temple. The columns were broken and the place was silent as a grave. Her temple was in complete ruin. "It can't be. It's gone." She fell to her knees and ran her hands through the sand. "My world is gone."  
  
Wesley and Buffy walked up behind her. Wesley cocked his gun at Illyria's head. "Now you know how I feel."  
  
Illyria looked up at Wesley and Buffy, wide-eyed. A low sound reverberated nearby and they turned to see a portal had opened up behind them. Buffy looked back at where Illyria was kneeling and saw she was gone. Wesley looked at her toppled statue and Buffy pulled him out of the portal.  
  
***  
  
"No army of doom scorching the earth. Huzzah for our side." Spike said. He, Buffy, Angel, and Wesley were in Buffy and Angel's office.  
  
"We need to close the gateway to Illyria's temple." Buffy said. "Permanently. I don't want any more surprises."  
  
"What about the leather queen?"  
  
"She still has enough juice to be a threat." Angel said.  
  
"We regroup and we take care of it. Wes?" Buffy asked.  
  
"It's all we can do. I'll be in the lab." Wesley walked out.  
  
"Long day." Spike said. "That offer still good? Send me abroad, roving agent and all?"  
  
Buffy looked at Spike surprised as Angel said, "Yeah, it's still good."  
  
"Great. Maybe we should send Gunn.... before Wes has another poke."  
  
Buffy smiled. "You're not leaving?"  
  
"This is what she would have wanted. It's what I want. I don't really like you." Spike said to Angel. "Suppose I never will. But this is important, what's happening here. Fred gave her life for it. The least I can do is give what's left of mine. The fight's coming. We all feel it.... and it's gonna be a hell of a lot bigger than Illyria or Sunnydale. Things are gonna get ugly. That's where I live."  
  
"I think that's where we all live."  
  
Spike kissed Buffy's forehead and smoothed down her hair. "You're one hell of a woman." He nodded at Angel and walked out.  
  
Angel stood and walked over to Buffy. "It all seems so petty now."  
  
"Yeah, it does." Buffy took Angel's hand and turned to look up at him. "She's really gone, isn't she?" Angel nodded sadly. "And I made the call to let her die."  
  
"It's what had to be done."  
  
"And I hate that." Buffy's eyes welled up. "I told Giles along time ago just after mom died, that being the perfect Slayer means being too hard to love at all. Because I let Fred.... Die.... I feel like I let her go because I don't feel like I can love anymore."  
  
"You know that's not true."  
  
"Is it? I have to doubt that. I mean, am I not stone?"  
  
"No. You are full of love. You told what the spirit guide told you and she was right. Buffy, you're love draws everyone around you closer together. You're love makes my heart and soul soar every time I think about being with you. I wake up every day knowing that you're at my side and you're not going to leave me until it's your time.... Or mine."  
  
"It wasn't Fred's time."  
  
"Maybe not, but I know Fred. Had she known that thousands of others would've died just to save her, she would have killed herself to stop it from happening. And you would too. Maybe, deep down, you knew that and that's why you made the decision. It was the right choice. Fred knows that."  
  
Buffy closed her eyes. "Help me remember how to grieve. It's been so long...." Angel held Buffy tightly, knowing there was nothing to ease her guilt but love and warmth. 


	32. Underneath p1

Chapter 32  
  
Buffy stared out the window of the penthouse at the bright LA sky. She had her arms wrapped around herself and the cold feeling that had settled over her in the last few days wouldn't leave. Not even the warm sun could touch her and warm her. Fred was gone. One of her only friends was gone. Willow, Giles, Xander.... They had all abandoned her. She only had Gunn, Wesley, Dawn, Angel, and Fred. But Fred was gone. Cordelia was gone. Two people who had believed in her the most were dead.  
  
The Slayer touched the glass of the window and tried to feel the warmth of the sun. The specially made glass repelled the heat and all Buffy could feel was the cold. She had never felt more awful in her entire life. Fred was dead because of the call she had made. But it was more than that, too. It wasn't just her. Everything had been preordained. There was nothing she could have done to stop it. The consequences would have been too much. Thousands of lives for one person who she cared dearly about. But it was over now. The call had been made and Fred had died.  
  
Now Illyria walked the earth looking like her friend. Wesley was stuck guarding the thing that had killed the woman he loved in front of his own eyes. Buffy knew how he felt. She had watched Angelus take over the man that Buffy loved and he had stuck around. He had tormented her with the fact that he was Angel. Or at least he looked and felt like Angel. And his memories. They had been Angel's too. Just one more thing to use against her.  
  
The phone rang. Buffy grabbed it off the cradle and pushed the talk button. "Yeah?"  
  
"Buffy?" Harmony asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Where are you at?"  
  
"Upstairs. Why?"  
  
"You have a board meeting today."  
  
"I do?"  
  
"Yeah. Remember? Angel reminded you yesterday and so did I."  
  
Buffy looked down at the lounge clothes she was wearing. "I'll be down in a few minutes." She hung up.  
  
***  
  
Angel looked up as the private elevator dinged and Buffy got off. She looked completely polished in a black business suit that had traded the pants for a short skirt. Her top was a low cut, white camisole and her shoes had four inch tall heels with a cute bow and dot trim across the top of the shoe and they each had a single strap that buckled around her ankle. Her hair was down and wavy and her freshly cut fringe bangs were bouncy. She looked gorgeous.  
  
She also stopped short when she realized there was no one there. "Um...." Buffy looked around the office. "I thought...."  
  
"So did I!" Angel said. He was frustrated that no one had shown up. Not even Spike had come.  
  
"And here I thought I was late."  
  
"Well, you are, but.... So is everyone else."  
  
Buffy walked a little further into the conference room and sat down next to Angel. "Well, I'm here. So, what's there to talk about?"  
  
"Not much, really. I just wanted to check up on the rest of the team."  
  
"What about Dawn?"  
  
"She's.... I don't know. Maybe she's with Wesley."  
  
"I'm glad we keep tabs on my little sister."  
  
Spike walked in carrying a briefcase. "Where's the rest of the crew?"  
  
"Apparently not coming." Angel said.  
  
"But this is an important meeting."  
  
"At least somebody...."  
  
"My first official parley as a very loosely affiliated member of the.... what are we? Tell me we're not Scoobies."  
  
"We don't have a...."  
  
"A name? Well, that's probably for the best. You'd want to be 'Angel's Avengers' or something."  
  
"'Angel's Avengers,' that's...."  
  
"So what's on the agenda?"  
  
"Uh, I have assignments for people...."  
  
Spike popped a beer. "What? I'm listening. With beer."  
  
"Forget it. You know what? This isn't a meeting. This is you being annoying." Angel got up and looked at Buffy staring out the window.  
  
Spike picked up a stack of papers. "Hey, bullet points. Classy." He paused to read, then held up the paper to Angel with contempt. "Why am I always reconnaissance? I should get a decently flash gig like 'save the girl' or 'steal the emerald with the girl.'"  
  
Angel put his hands on Buffy's shoulders, knowing exactly what she was feeling. "Handsome man, save me from the monsters."  
  
"Exactly! Or.... What's that now?"  
  
"That's the first thing Fred said to me. In Pylea. She was trapped, hiding, afraid. Nearly crazy. Crazy. But brave."  
  
Buffy sighed. "We should never have let her come here. Bad things always happen here."  
  
"Hate to break it to you, but bad things always happen everywhere. Besides, she wanted to be here. It was her choice." Spike said.  
  
"Was it?"  
  
"Bugger. You're fixing to do something stupid, aren't you?"  
  
Buffy turned and looked at Spike. "Done it. Came back here." She snorted. "I've spent every day here lying to myself about making the world a better place."  
  
"Welcome to the planet. We all paint on our happy faces every day, when all we really wanted is to pound the neighbor's missis, steal his Ben Franklins, and while we're at it, not think about the third of the world that's starving to death."  
  
"I'm not saying that we can fix everything. I just.... I.... I have to do better. WE have to do better. The senior partners have a plan."  
  
"Yeah, the prophecy. That ever-lovin' apocalypse you two keep going on about."  
  
"Yeah, which apocalypse.... the one last year or the year before that? No, the senior partners are up to something now, and I'm not waiting for them to spring it on us. We're through operating in the dark."  
  
"Ok, then. Might be easier if we knew anyone who had a direct line to the big guys."  
  
"We do."  
  
"Is that what you've been competing with Angel in the Brood-Olympics over? How to beat the Senior Partners?"  
  
"Sorta. It's mostly kicking myself over the decision to.... Let Fred go."  
  
"You make it sound like you fired her."  
  
"Spike...."  
  
Spike stood up and hugged her. "I'm sorry. I know it's tough for you."  
  
"We need to talk to Eve."  
  
"I'll get the car ready." Angel said.  
  
"Sweetie?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Let me talk to her. You guys just stand back. I think she needs a woman to woman talk here."  
  
***  
  
"No way." Eve said. "Even if my connection to the senior partners wasn't completely severed, I'm done helping you."  
  
"This isn't a negotiation, Eve." Buffy said.  
  
"Ooh, I'm intimidated. What could you possibly do to me? I've been trapped in this house for weeks like a...."  
  
"Rat? Snake?" Spike asked. "Beady little rat snake?"  
  
"You're not trapped, Eve. You're hiding. Been there, done that. You know the second you step out that door, the second you don't have these symbols keeping you invisible to the partners, they're gonna zero in." Buffy moved in close to Eve and backed her against the wall. "So don't bother playing the pity angle. The only thing you care about is saving your own ass."  
  
"The only thing I care about is gone. You two gave him up to the senior partners, let them suck him into...."  
  
"Could do the same to you. I'll tell them how to see through your security system."  
  
"You wouldn't...."  
  
"Not if you tell me what I want to know."  
  
The house started shaking as a deep rumbling sound was heard somewhere outside the door. "Oh, you bitch! You told them! You...."  
  
"Wasn't us!" Angel said.  
  
"Oh, God. They're coming. Please, don't let them take me. Please, I'll tell you. I'll tell you anything you want to know."  
  
Buffy grabbed Eve and they ran out the balcony door. Angel and Spike jumped to the ground and Buffy tossed Eve over before throwing herself over. Spike caught Eve and Angel caught Buffy. They threw themselves against the wall under the balcony just as something came out of the doors above them. After a minute, the thing retreated and the four of them ran back to the car.  
  
***  
  
The elevator doors opened and Buffy and Angel got out followed by Spike and Eve. "Harmony!" Angel called.  
  
"Yepper?" Harmony asked.  
  
"Call security, put 'em on red alert. Nobody gets in this building without clearance from me. I want a guard at every entrance, every elevator, every stairwell. Cover the whole building."  
  
"Ok, but you know how that never works...."  
  
"Harmony!"  
  
"On it."  
  
"All right, stay with Eve. Anything gets past security, kill it." Buffy said to Spike.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"To see my lawyer." Buffy headed to medical to see Gunn. She had visited him a couple of times, but he had been pretty unresponsive to her. Angel was behind her as she opened the door. She looked at him. "Let me do this." Angel nodded and leaned against the wall as she went in. "We have a problem." Gunn looked at her. "The Senior Partners found Eve. They sent something to take her out. I need to know if we have jurisdiction to protect her. What's protocol here?"  
  
"I don't know." Gunn said.  
  
"Right. Well, when you're through reading about important things like, um.... 'Trista and Ryan's big baby plans' maybe you can put some thought into it."  
  
"I'm just not sure...."  
  
"Stop. Gunn, you paid a high price for what's in that brain, so use it."  
  
"There's a proviso in your contracts. Says that as CEOs of a Wolfram & Hart branch, you can invoke a rapio salvus order. Basically says you're taking custody of a wayward employee. It's not usually used for protection, but it should work."  
  
"Thank you. How do we...."  
  
"I'll make a call."  
  
"Thanks." Buffy started to go, but stopped. "Listen, Gunn.... I know you feel bad about your part in what happened to Fred. And you should. For the rest of your life, it should wake you up in the middle of the night. And it will.... because you're a good man. You signed a piece of paper, that's all."  
  
"But I knew. Not about Fred, but.... when I signed, I knew there would be consequences."  
  
"You know, the thing I've learned about atonement is: you never run out of chances.... but you gotta take them. You can't hide in some hospital room and pretend it's all gonna go away.... cause it never will." Buffy touched his hand and then walked out.  
  
"So what'd he say?" Angel asked.  
  
"Eve's under our protection. No one can touch her."  
  
"And how's that work?"  
  
"We invoke something."  
  
"It's a ritual?"  
  
"No. It just means that we say she's under our protection and Gunn's putting the word out. He used a lot of high tech words and it all went over my head, but I got the gist."  
  
"So we're going to help her?" Angel asked as they walked into their office where Eve, Spike, and Lorne were waiting.  
  
"We don't want to help her. But.... we will. Eve, you're under mine and Angel's protection."  
  
"Thank the gods." Eve said.  
  
"But, you know, I can take it away with one phone call. Convince me not to, Eve."  
  
"How can I?"  
  
"Let's start with something easy, huh? You." Angel said.  
  
"Me?"  
  
"What are you? What do you do for the senior partners?"  
  
"I'm a liaison. I liaise. Look, what do you want me to say? I'm a leprechaun. I'm from Brigadoon."  
  
"If I had a nickel for every time I heard that one." Spike said.  
  
"There are layers upon layers at Wolfram & Hart, things you'll never understand. What am I? I'm a child of the senior partners, created to do their bidding."  
  
"You're an immortal." Buffy said. "Why are you here?"  
  
"To watch. Tell them what I see. Pass on messages to you two, if there are any."  
  
"So you're, uh, middle management?" Spike asked.  
  
"What are the senior partners, huh?" Angel asked. "What do they...."  
  
"No idea." Eve said.  
  
"Eve."  
  
"Do you honestly believe the senior partners would let me have access to that information? Angel, for someone so old, you're so young. I only know what they want me to know and only when they want me to know it."  
  
"You don't know anything?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Maybe. Maybe I know a lot.... but I don't have access to it. It's locked in my head somewhere, and I don't have the key. Ready for the funny part? There was someone who could've told you everything you want to know.... and you let the senior partners take him away."  
  
"Lindsey."  
  
"Lindsey's dedicated years of his life to the study of the senior partners. No one knows more about them than he does.... what they've done, what they plan to do."  
  
"I thought he was after me." Angel said.  
  
"You're saying bringing Spike back, the fail-safe, that was all about the senior partners?" Buffy asked.  
  
"No. It's about Angel, too. He really doesn't like you.... but he may know more about you than.... well, than you do."  
  
"Which is why they snatched him up." Angel said.  
  
"Yeah. They couldn't risk him and you having a sit-down." Spike said.  
  
"And now.... what he's going through." Eve said.  
  
"They didn't kill him?" Buffy asked.  
  
"They would want him to suffer horrors. Lindsey is in some hideous.... awful hell."  
  
"Hell?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"What kind of hell?" Angel asked.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"There's thousands of different kinds of hells." Spike put in. "You got your fire hell, your ice hell.... your.... ice hell. Your upside-down hell."  
  
"I don't care if he's in 'toy poodles on parade' hell." Angel said, getting agitated. "He's got information that we need."  
  
"According to the girl whose only reason for being is to see her darling lawyer boy again." Buffy said.  
  
"I'm not lying." Eve said, turning to Lorne. "Well, tell him I'm not lying."  
  
"No one can fake it through the piña colada song. Not once the chorus kicks in." Lorne said.  
  
"If Lindsey can tell us what the senior partners have planned, I want him." Buffy said. "You got a better idea how to do it, I'm totally open."  
  
"Didn't say that." Spike said. "Just pointed out that this one sucks. We're looking for a hell dimension in a haystack. How are we supposed to know...."  
  
Gunn walked in the office. "I know. And I can get us in." Buffy noted that Gunn was wearing street clothes, not his usual business suit. His head was shaven and he looked more like the pre-W&H Gunn of yore.  
  
"Us?" Angel asked. 


	33. Underneath p2

Chapter 33  
  
Buffy, Gunn, Angel, and Spike were walking through the garage that held all of her and Angel's cars. Gunn was still explaining what he knew. "Started flipping through the brain files soon as Harmony told me. Figured there had to be some kind of precedent."  
  
"And?" Angel asked.  
  
"Senior partners had trouble with a guy in the Tokyo division way back. Lindsey probably got the tattoo idea from studying up on him."  
  
"And wherever they sent this guy, that's where Lindsey is."  
  
"Yup."  
  
"I hope it's toy poodle hell. I've had my fill of fire." Spike said.  
  
"It's not hell. It's a Wolfram & Hart holding dimension."  
  
"Meaning what?" Buffy asked. "The Senior Partners haven't decided what to do with Lindsey?"  
  
"Their version of a penalty box."  
  
"Great. So.... how we supposed to get there?"  
  
"Ever taken the Camaro?"  
  
They stopped walking as they approached the classic Camaro painted shiny cobalt blue. After a second, Buffy looked at the guys. "Shot gun!" She walked over and opened the door so Spike and Gunn could crawl in back.  
  
***  
  
Angel was in the driver's seat, but he wasn't steering. The car was driving itself. "This is weirding me out. Is this weirding you out?" Angel asked Buffy.  
  
"Majorly." Buffy said, staring at the possessed wheel.  
  
Spike poked his head up front. "What, you never heard of Knight Rider? The Knight Industries 2000? K.I.T.T.? Never mind."  
  
"Car's built to get us there. Once we have Lindsey, it's on us to find the Wrath." Gunn said.  
  
"The Wrath?! You know that's gonna be a giggle."  
  
"Whatever it is, we got to go through it to get out."  
  
"I've never seen these streets before." Buffy said.  
  
"Where we going: not in the Thomas Guide."  
  
"There's gonna be fire." Spike said, sitting back.  
  
Buffy looked at Angel as the Camaro headed through the dark night into a tunnel carved into a hillside. "Glad we never decided to take this car before."  
  
"Tell me about it." Buffy said.  
  
When the Camaro emerged from the other end of the tunnel, it was a beautiful, sunny day with clear blue skies. They looked out the windows to find themselves in a suburban neighborhood.  
  
"This isn't hell. It's the 'burbs." Spike said.  
  
"Close enough." Buffy quipped. She turned and looked at Gunn.  
  
"This is Lindsey's punishment? For trying to kill me?" Angel asked. "Hunh! Maybe it's a reward."  
  
As they drove, men came out of their houses and walked down the driveway. They headed to the end and picked up their morning paper. The creepy thing was that they did it all at the exact same time. "Ok, the Camaro ride? Not looking so creepy anymore." Buffy said.  
  
The Camaro pulled up to one of the identical houses and stopped. Spike stared out the window at the sunny front lawn between the car and Lindsey's front door. "Oh, so we just open with me being on fire. That's great."  
  
"Yeah. You can put your coat over your head and make a run for it." Angel said, smiling at him.  
  
"Bloody thief is what you are. Should've been my ring."  
  
"You're the one that messed up."  
  
Buffy opened the car door and Spike reacted instantly, recoiling with fright, putting his hands to his face trying to shield himself from the sunlight pouring in through Buffy's open car door. She stepped out and helped Gunn get out. Spike realized that he wasn't on fire and looked at Angel confused.  
  
"Alternate dimension, remember?" Gunn asked. "Sun's the non-frying variety."  
  
"I figured that." Spike said.  
  
"Moron." Angel said, getting out and walking over to Buffy's side.  
  
"Can we go?" Buffy asked. They all walked up to the front door.  
  
"Grab Lindsey and we get out."  
  
"Kill everything in our way." Gunn said.  
  
"What's going to be in our way, the family mutt?" Spike asked, pushing the doorbell.  
  
"This is Wolfram & Hart. Odds are there's something ugly behind that door."  
  
A pretty blonde woman opened the door. "Can I help you?"  
  
"Uh, is Lindsey home?" Angel asked.  
  
"Sure. Come on in." She stood back and allowed them to enter. Buffy looked at Angel, extremely confused. "Honey?" The woman called. "There's coffee."  
  
"No. We're fine. Thanks."  
  
Lindsey walked down the stairs. "Zach's hockey stick's gone missing. Oh. I didn't realize we had company."  
  
"I'll do search and rescue." The woman walked away.  
  
"Ok. How can I help you guys.... And lady?"  
  
"Cut the act, Ward. June's gone." Spike said.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"You don't know who we are?" Buffy asked.  
  
"No. Do you play in the league?"  
  
"No, um.... I'm Angel. This is Spike and Gunn. And this is my wife, Buffy." Angel said.  
  
"You might want to have a seat." Gunn said.  
  
"Ok. Please. Is this about the free vacation I entered to win?" Lindsey asked, offering them seats.  
  
"Does the name Wolfram & Hart mean anything to you?" Buffy asked. "It's a law firm. You used to work there."  
  
"All right, Buffy, is it? Yeah. Now, the only lawyer I know is the one who fixes my speeding tickets."  
  
"Well, that guy, he's not real." Angel said. "None of this is. You're under some spell."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nuts and bolts, you're in hell. We've come to break you out." Spike said.  
  
"All right. Who put you up to this? Was it Fisher?"  
  
"There's no joke. You're in a mystical holding cell, an alternate reality." Gunn said.  
  
"So Trish is not my wife and Zach's not my son?"  
  
"Now he's gettin' it." Spike said. "Ever heard of something called the Wrath?"  
  
"Seriously, is Fisher outside?" Lindsey stood and looked out the window.  
  
"Lindsey, this whole life is a lie." Angel said.  
  
"All right. This is starting to get a little less funny. I think you guys should leave."  
  
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but we're here to help."  
  
"Ok. Get out. Now."  
  
Buffy grabbed Lindsey by the collar. "Look, we're telling you the truth. You don't want to believe it, that's your choice. Either way, you're coming with us."  
  
"Get off me!"  
  
Buffy noticed the runic necklace. "Maybe this will help you make up your mind." She ripped the necklace off of Lindsey. Lindsey collapsed to the floor in a heap. He came to and tried to sit up when he noticed Angel standing there, wearing a dagger on his belt.  
  
"Angel. Make it quick."  
  
"If I was gonna kill you, it wouldn't be quick." Angel said, pulling Lindsey to his feet by his collar. Lindsey's 'wife' walked into the room, smiling.  
  
"Oh! Hi." Spike said. "Your hubby was just showing us a thing...." The wife lifted up her arms to reveal she was carrying a machine gun. She pointed it at the gang and started shooting. Buffy, Spike, and Gunn ducked behind the couch, while Angel had to pull Lindsey to safety because he was just standing there mired in confusion. "Seems your wife's a little moody."  
  
"Get Lindsey to the car! Go! Now!" Angel said to Buffy. He rushed the wife, serving as a shield for the others behind him as they tried to escape. Buffy grabbed Lindsey up and together with Gunn and Spike, carried him out through the front door. The wife continued shooting, but Angel got close enough to rush her. He nearly knocked the gun from her hand, but she punched him, knocking him down, then started beating Angel in the head with the butt of the gun.  
  
Spike stopped in his tracks when he noticed that the Camaro was no longer parked on the street in front of the house. "Didn't we have a car?"  
  
As they stood there stupefied, an ice cream truck pulled up in front of the house, and the driver started shooting a machine gun at them from the street. Spike shielded Buffy and Gunn, taking the bullets in his back as he pushed them into the house. The mail carrier also joined in the firefight, shooting at the gang with a handgun in each hand. Lindsey tripped and fell to the ground as Gunn and Buffy shoved him out of the firefight outside back into the house. Angel was still fighting the wife, but appeared to have the upper hand now, as he was punching her repeatedly in the face, ultimately knocking her down.  
  
"Hey, our bloody ride's gone." Spike said.  
  
Buffy saw the boy, Zach, creeping down the stairs holding a machine gun. "Get down!" The boy started shooting and the gang hid behind the couch again.  
  
"We've got to find the Wrath." Gunn yelled. "Where's the Wrath?"  
  
"Where's not the Wrath? The Wrath's all over!" Spike said.  
  
Buffy grabbed Lindsey and hauled him close to her. "Lindsey, think. Do you know where it is?"  
  
"I don't know. I don't know!" Lindsey said.  
  
"There's a door by the kitchen. Might be a way out, through the cellar." Gunn said.  
  
"No! We can't go down there, not the cellar!"  
  
"Cellar it is, then." Spike said.  
  
"Guessin' we found the Wrath." Buffy said.  
  
"No! Please, don't!" Lindsey yelled. Angel and Spike turned over the couch and pushed it forward into the boy, giving them a reprieve from the gunfire as they headed for the cellar door. The gang went through the door and down the steps into the cellar. "We're all gonna die."  
  
"Not today." Angel said.  
  
"Every day."  
  
They had descended the stairs into the cellar, and everyone was having a look around. It looked like a torture dungeon, and it was lit by candles. "Holy!" Spike said.  
  
"Nothing holy here." Gunn said.  
  
Buffy walked up to a pile of a hundred or so bloody organs on the floor. "Oh gross! A heart? Whose are these?"  
  
"Mine." Lindsey said.  
  
"Oh." Buffy backed away.  
  
"Try to find the door, some way out." Angel said.  
  
"With pleasure. The faster we get out of here, the better." Spike said.  
  
Buffy jingled some chains on the wall. "Somebody has fun with these."  
  
"Buffy...." Angel said, opening a creaky door that revealed a huge flaming furnace behind it.  
  
"The Wrath?"  
  
"Could be."  
  
"What did I tell you?" Spike asked, looking at the fire.  
  
"The lock's mystical." Gunn said.  
  
"Well, how do we...." Angel started.  
  
"He's coming." Lindsey said.  
  
"Who?" Spike asked.  
  
"He knows. He always knows."  
  
"Who?"  
  
Buffy noticed a demon approaching, his chains rattling. "Him. Gunn, guard Lindsey!" Gunn took Lindsey out of the way, while Buffy, Angel, and Spike faced off with the demon. A fight ensued with Spike swinging a pipe at the demon, Angel using his dagger, and Buffy yanking a bloody machete from the wall. Eventually, after much punching and kicking each other across the room, the vamped-out vampires and the Slayer overpowered the demon by using his own torture devices.  
  
"Come on." Angel said.  
  
Gunn put Lindsey's necklace on. Buffy looked at him. "Gunn, no! What the hell are you doing?"  
  
"What needs to be done." Gunn said.  
  
"I'm not leaving you here."  
  
"You don't make the rules here. Wolfram & Hart does. If one leaves, one has to stay. A void is impossible." The gate in front of the fire opened.  
  
"You knew."  
  
"That thing about atonement."  
  
"Gunn...."  
  
"Buffy, let's go!" Angel said.  
  
"You are not bloody serious!" Spike said.  
  
"When I forget, the door closes." Gunn said. "Go. You have to."  
  
Buffy hugged Gunn tightly. "I'll find a way to get you back."  
  
Angel grabbed Buffy and pulled her through the fire. They walked through a glowing portal and then found themselves falling. They hit one of their cars just as Lorne was about to haul ass. "What the daisy?!" Lorne asked, getting out of the car.  
  
Spike got to his feet, panicking. "I'm on fire! Oh, never mind."  
  
Eve jumped out of the car. "Lindsey!" She hugged him tightly. "What did they do to you?"  
  
"He'll be fine." Buffy said, checking her hair for singes.  
  
"Whereas we got shot and almost killed by a juiced-up S&M demon." Spike said. "Thanks for asking."  
  
"Let's get upstairs." Angel said. He and Spike flanked Lindsey, each supporting one of his shoulders, as they carried him toward the elevator.  
  
"Be careful. He's hurt." Eve said.  
  
Lorne grabbed Buffy's arm. "Uh, Buffy, you guys should know there's a very tall, well-dressed, uh.... Where's Gunn?"  
  
"He, uh.... he stayed behind." Buffy said.  
  
"Stayed behind? But you never leave a...." Buffy avoided eye contact. "Or.... I guess we do. That's what we do now."  
  
There was a loud thumping on the stairwell. "Oh God!" Eve said.  
  
"Like I was saying."  
  
A man punched the door off its hinges, sending it flying into the garage. When the dust settled, the man walked out into the garage and approached Angel and the others. "Damn.... he is well-dressed." Angel said.  
  
"Please, don't do this." Eve pleaded.  
  
"Eve's under my protection. You can't touch her."  
  
The man stood his ground and reached into his vest pocket to pull out a pen. "Whoa. Didn't see that coming." Spike said.  
  
"You know how it works, Eve." The man said.  
  
"You could talk to the senior partners. Tell them it's a mistake."  
  
"That's impossible."  
  
"I said back off." Angel said.  
  
The man pulled out a contract and handed it to Eve. "Don't bother, Angel. It's over." She said.  
  
"Sign here." The man said. She signed. "Good girl."  
  
"What the hell's going on?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Oh, sorry for the intrusion. I'm Marcus Hamilton, your new liaison to the senior partners. And here."  
  
"You're what?"  
  
"Along with her immortality and certain other privileges, Eve has signed over her duties to me. Oh, and initial there."  
  
"This is about a contract?" Angel asked. "I thought you said you were gonna die."  
  
"And now one day I will." Eve said.  
  
"The senior partners felt it was time for a change." Hamilton said. "Eve was too easily distracted. Lost sight of the big picture."  
  
"I fell in love."  
  
"Yes. Congratulations. Wonderful escape, by the way. Very clever. We'll be in touch. Oh, I have some excellent ideas I can't wait to share."  
  
Angel intercepted Hamilton. "This is my house. The only ideas that matter are mine and my wife's."  
  
"Absolutely. That's the policy. The senior partners are behind you two 100%."  
  
"I doubt that." Buffy said.  
  
"I'm looking forward to working myself into the mix. Angel, Mrs. Summers, Spike.... Welcome to the team." With that, he walked away.  
  
"Well, he's not so bad." Lorne said.  
  
Buffy shook her head. "Ok boys, who goes first with the first aid?"  
  
***  
  
Dawn was using some hefty tweezers to pull bullets out of Spike's back. She dropped one into a bowl nearby and proceeded to dig out another. "Ouch! Take it easy, half pint!" Spike said.  
  
"Sorry, I've never really done this." Dawn said.  
  
"Just get on with it."  
  
"You ok?" Buffy asked Angel, gently digging out the last bullet from her husband's chest.  
  
"Been better." Angel said.  
  
"There." Buffy dropped the bullet in the bowl and handed Angel a shirt. He slipped it on as she put the final bandage on him.  
  
"The hero of the hour." Lindsey said.  
  
"I'm not your hero. I'm your warden." Angel replied.  
  
"It's all how you look at the glass."  
  
"I thought a few months of torture at the hands of the senior partners would have dug a little deeper."  
  
"Just scratched the surface. Turns out they can only undo you as far as you think you deserve to be undone. I wonder how Gunn's gonna make out."  
  
"The senior partners want to know everything you know about them. About the apocalypse, about their plans for me and Buffy."  
  
"And for me." Spike said. "The guy with the pen said, 'welcome to the team.' Must've meant something."  
  
"You know what I know. Look around. The world's a cesspool.... full of selfish and greedy beasts. We live, we die. Even you, babe." Lindsey said to Eve.  
  
"Lindsey, don't." Eve complained.  
  
"You still happy to see me?"  
  
"Yeah, hell's on earth. Holland manners tried to sell me that line 3 years ago." Angel said.  
  
"Did you ever prove him wrong?"  
  
"All how you look at the glass. You know, Lindsey, we can philosophize all night. Hell.... We could do it forever, huh? I don't need to eat, sleep, drink. How about you?"  
  
"That's what I like to see.... the Angel of yore. Takes no prisoners, suffers no fools. How 'bout this? It's here. It's been here all along. Underneath. You're just too damn stupid to see it."  
  
"See what?" Buffy asked.  
  
"The apocalypse. You're soaking in it."  
  
"I've seen an apocalypse or two in my time." Spike said. "I'd know I one was under my nose."  
  
"Not AN apocalypse. THE apocalypse. What'd you think, a gong was gonna sound? Time to jump on your horses and fight the big fight? Starting pistol went off a long time ago, boys and girl. You're playing for the bad guys. Every day you sit behind your desk and you learn a little more how to accept the world the way it is. Well, here's the rub.... heroes don't do that. Heroes don't accept the world the way it is. They fight it."  
  
"You're saying everything we do.... it's a distraction.... to keep us busy from looking under the surface." Buffy said.  
  
"Ding! We have a winner! The world keeps sliding towards entropy and degradation, and what do you two do? You sit in your big chair, and you sign your checks, just like the senior partners planned. The war's here, guys. And you're already 2 soldiers down."  
  
Buffy and Angel looked at each other. They could read what the other was thinking and both of them were worried beyond normal. 


	34. Origin p1

Chapter 34  
  
Buffy sighed and grabbed her keys. "Dawn! Are you coming?"  
  
"Yeah, just give me a minute." Dawn called back from her room.  
  
"Damn it Dawn, we don't have all day."  
  
"I know!"  
  
"Then come on."  
  
Angel walked into the penthouse. "Hey."  
  
"Hi." Buffy pounded on Dawn's door. "I swear if you don't come out this second I'm going to break down this door and drag you out by your hair."  
  
"What'd I miss?"  
  
"Dawn and I're going to go explore the UCLA campus."  
  
"I don't really want to go there." Dawn said, opening the door.  
  
"Well, I want you close to home."  
  
"I got accepted to Penn State!"  
  
"That's a whole country away. No."  
  
"It's not like we don't have the money."  
  
"I said no, Dawn."  
  
"I don't know why you're acting like this. When you wanted to go to college, you wanted to go to Timbuktu and mom was going to let you."  
  
"Ok, it was the Hellmouth. Why would I want to go to school on the Hellmouth? For four more years anyway. And once I figured out that I was doomed to stay there, mom was the one pushing me to leave."  
  
"Well, push me. I don't want to go to school in LA."  
  
"And I do."  
  
"Buffy, I'm almost 18 years old!"  
  
"And?"  
  
"It means that I'm growing up and it's time for me to move on with my life."  
  
"Oh no, there will be no moving on."  
  
"You can use Wolfram and Hart to watch me if you want, but please just let me go to Penn State!"  
  
"No."  
  
"Buff...."  
  
"I said no Dawn. Jesus, you're as hard headed as Connor!"  
  
Dawn stopped. "Who's Connor?"  
  
Buffy looked at Angel and then back at Dawn. She took a deep breath and then said, "He's no one. Let's just go. Please."  
  
Dawn grabbed her purse. "I have to let Wesley know that I'll be out for a while." With that, Dawn left.  
  
Buffy rubbed her face with her hands and sighed. "I hate life."  
  
"No you don't." Angel said, kissing Buffy's hair.  
  
"I don't know how much more I can take of this."  
  
"Of what?"  
  
"Watching Dawn grow up in this place. I understand why she wants to go away, I really, really do, but she just can't. It's just too dangerous."  
  
"And staying here isn't?"  
  
"Don't reverse psych me."  
  
"You know either way, she's not completely safe."  
  
"But if she's here, I can be there for her when she's in trouble."  
  
"And you know that's not true."  
  
"I had to let one kid go, don't make me let her go too."  
  
Angel touched Buffy's cheek. "Baby, you don't have to let her go completely. She just needs some space to grow up."  
  
"She's too grown up already. Most of her life has been covered in death and despair and heartache." Buffy allowed a tear to fall. "And it's mostly my fault."  
  
"That's not true."  
  
"Isn't it? Ever since I became the Slayer, I've brought horrible things home with me. Sometimes I blame myself for my parents splitting and my dad leaving and Dawn's horrible life."  
  
"But look at the woman she's becoming."  
  
"I don't want to. I want her to be that annoying little brat she was when we first moved to Sunnydale." Buffy wiped away her tears. "And I'd just love to be 16 again." She finished sarcastically. "God, I'm such a sap."  
  
"You're such a mother. Without you, I think this whole family would fall apart."  
  
"What little family?"  
  
"Me, Gunn, Wesley, and Dawn. Ever since Fred.... You've been nothing but motherly towards everyone. Hell, even before that you were the one taking care of everyone and watching out for them."  
  
"I was a mother.... Once. But I failed miserably at it. So bad it led to this place." Buffy sighed. "I need to go. The campus tour starts in 45 minutes."  
  
Angel grabbed Buffy's hand. "I love you."  
  
"I love you."  
  
Angel kissed Buffy deeply and whispered in her ear, "You're not a bad person Buffy. It's just the things that happen to you are bad."  
  
***  
  
Dawn followed Buffy into the office that used to be Fred's. Wesley was standing there watching Illyria. Buffy had heard that Wes had brought her here and she wanted to check on him. Wesley looked over at Buffy. "She's either.... counting oxygen molecules or analyzing the petri dish she just put into her mouth. Or sleeping. I can never quite tell."  
  
"You sure this was a good idea?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Oh, we have plenty of petri dishes."  
  
"I meant...."  
  
"I know what you meant."  
  
"You don't have to do this all yourself."  
  
"Who else is there? We're running out of people, Buffy. We're getting no further with Gunn...."  
  
"I'm not leaving Gunn in a hell dimension. We'll get him out. In the meantime, I need you to let us help you with her."  
  
"She's my responsibility."  
  
"She's our responsibility. If she's gonna be here, there are things that we should be doing...."  
  
"Yeah like testing her powers.... studying her." Dawn piped up. "I mean.... She actually put a whole petri dish in her mouth!"  
  
"Illyria can be.... difficult. Testing her might be hard without getting someone seriously hurt."  
  
"We'll make Spike do it." Buffy said teasingly.  
  
"Good." Wesley said. "She doesn't understand our world. She needs someone to guide her. She needs...."  
  
Buffy touched Wesley's arm. "When was the last time you slept? You're not her savior. Angel and I need you here, working, not off drinking yourself into a coma, chasing ghosts. Fred's dead, Wes. You're still alive. Start acting like it." With that, Buffy walked out leaving Dawn with Wesley.  
  
***  
  
Later that evening, Buffy walked back into Wolfram and Hart's lobby and started to head over to the stairs when Angel walked down them.  
  
"Hey, where's Dawn?" He asked.  
  
"She's staying with some friends. Probably complaining about what a bitch I am." Buffy said, kissing Angel lightly.  
  
"Well, you can't blame her."  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Kidding. So, are you feeling better?"  
  
"About what?"  
  
"About what we talked about earlier."  
  
"Oh.... I don't know. Ask me in ten years if we're still alive."  
  
"Hey mom!" The Slayer stopped and turned to see Connor staring at her. "Dad." Buffy looked to see Angel standing directly behind her looking even paler than usual.  
  
"What.... What are you...." Buffy couldn't speak.  
  
"Mom?"  
  
A woman standing behind Buffy and Angel with an older man and Wesley looked at Connor. "Yeah, it's ok. Come on over."  
  
Connor walked forward, past Buffy and Angel, toward the couple from Wesley's office. "You know, they have dried scorpions in the vending machines downstairs."  
  
Wesley looked at Buffy and Angel. "Buffy, Angel, good. This is Laurence and Colleen Reilly, and this is their son...."  
  
"Connor." Connor held out his hand to Buffy and she shook it. "Hi. Nice to meet both of you."  
  
"The Reillys need to talk about some issues regarding Connor here, and I thought we could...."  
  
"No." Angel said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm sorry. There must be some mistake. We can't help you." Angel walked away.  
  
"Angel!" Buffy looked at the others apologetically. "Sorry." She turned and ran after Angel. She slammed the door behind her. "What the hell is wrong with you?"  
  
"That's our son out there!" Angel said through gritted teeth.  
  
"Yeah? And?"  
  
"The Senior Partners and us.... We had a deal. What is he doing here?"  
  
"You didn't give them a chance to explain that what with the walking out and the 'no' part!" Buffy put her hands on Angel's chest, but he walked away from her. "I'm pissed off too that this happened. But it happened. He's here and he needs our help. What kind of parents would we be if we didn't help our son?" Buffy picked up the phone. "Wesley, can you get in here? Bring Connor's case with you." She looked back at Angel. "I don't give a damn how mad you are. I'm helping my son." Wesley walked in carrying a file. "Ok, what's going on?"  
  
"A van ran him down." Wesley said. "He got up and walked away.... unharmed."  
  
Buffy noticed that the little family was standing by Wesley's office. "How'd they find us?"  
  
"Police officer mentioned our name, said we might be able to help."  
  
"We're not taking this case." Angel said.  
  
"Why not?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Because with everything going on, we don't have time to deal with small stuff like this."  
  
"Small stuff?" Buffy asked. "This is what we do.... or what we're supposed to do. They need help. And they seem like good people."  
  
"All the more reason to get them out of here. We know what this place does to good people."  
  
"But they won't be staying here long. We'll get to the bottom of this and...."  
  
"No. We won't. Wesley, send them home."  
  
Wesley looked between husband and wife and then left. Buffy wheeled on Angel. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you are NOT bossing me around like that. I'm not some one night stand. I'm you're wife and there is no way in hell that I'm going to take this from you."  
  
"I'm not letting this place corrupt our son."  
  
"The only person corrupting our son is you!"  
  
"And how do you figure that, Buffy?"  
  
"By turning him away when he needs our help. Someone could've found out that he's our son and now they're after him." She turned and looked at the family leaving in the elevator. "Look at him! That's my little boy out there. He needs his mother. And damn it...." Buffy grabbed her coat. "He's gonna get me."  
  
"Buffy...."  
  
"Shut up Angel." Buffy walked out and slammed the door almost breaking it off the hinges. Everyone stared at her as she stormed to the elevators. "Back to work people!"  
  
Angel watched her go and then got Hamilton on the line. A few minutes later, he walked through the door. "Oh, we'll have to get someone to fix that. I hear your wife through a tantrum."  
  
"What the hell is going on?" Angel asked.  
  
"Angel? I'm at your disposal."  
  
"My son walks in through my door!"  
  
"Yours and Buffy's son, if I may correct you and you make him walk right out again. I found that interesting."  
  
"I want him as far away from here as possible!"  
  
"Yes. But it might have been smart to get some information out of him first. It could help us understand what's happening. At least Buffy gets that."  
  
"Tell you what. Why don't you just tell me?"  
  
"Let's be clear about this. Things run differently now. I'm not a little girl. Now, with that in mind, how can I help you?"  
  
"The senior partners and us had a deal."  
  
"Yes, you did. They took your son.... your raging psychopathic son.... gave him a new family, changed his memories, changed everyone's memories, actually, in order to give him a new life, a normal life."  
  
"And we came to work here!"  
  
"And we couldn't be happier. The senior partners honor their deals. And believe me, they have no desire to upset such a.... profitable partnership."  
  
"So this is just a.... an unfortunate coincidence."  
  
"Oh, no, I didn't say that. I said the senior partners weren't behind it. This isn't an accident. Someone out there's trying to send you a message.... and they're using your son to do it."  
  
***  
  
Buffy had managed to follow Connor's car from the rooftops as they drove back to a motel not far from Wolfram and Hart. She watched as demons attacked the car. Connor sent one flying when it went after the mother. Another demon jumped at Connor from a nearby car top, punching Connor and throwing him into another car. Connor cowered on the ground as the demon started coming back for more, but Buffy swooped in from above the car and tackled the demon. She engaged two demons at once in an amazing display of punches and kicks. To end the fight, Buffy raised one of the demons over her head and slammed it dramatically into the ground.  
  
"Oh my God!" Connor said.  
  
Buffy turned to him. "Connor, listen to me...."  
  
"You almost broke that guy in half! That was awesome! Seriously, that was the coolest thing I've ever seen."  
  
"Well, it's.... It's not a big deal. I mean, I do stuff like that a lot. But.... Are you ok? Did they hurt you?"  
  
"Connor!" Connor's.... mother.... walked out from behind the car helping his.... Father.... stand.  
  
"Dad!" Connor ran over to them.  
  
"I'm ok." The dad said.  
  
"We need to get him to a hospital." The mother said.  
  
"We've got doctors at Wolfram & Hart." Buffy said just loud enough for them to hear. "We can help." She looked at Connor. "You and I have some things we should probably talk about."  
  
"Yeah. I kinda figured." Connor said.  
  
***  
  
Buffy and Connor walked out of the medical wing of Wolfram and Hart. Buffy had informed Angel what was going on and then hung up on him. She was still pissed at him, but at the moment, she was spending time with her son. "Your dad's gonna be fine." She said. "He's in good hands. Or claws, as the case may be. They're good doctors."  
  
"What were those things that attacked us?" Connor asked.  
  
"Some kind of demon. I'm having it looked into."  
  
"Is that what I am? Some kind of demon?"  
  
"Oh.... No! Of course not!"  
  
"Then.... what am I?"  
  
The question stung Buffy's heart, but she put on her best smile. "Best we can tell, you're a healthy, well-adjusted kid, with, uh.... enhanced abilities."  
  
"And you're a Vampire Slayer. And your husband's a vampire?"  
  
"Weird, I know."  
  
"So.... demons, vampires, doctors with claws.... and I'm some sort of super- hero. Ok."  
  
"You're taking this pretty well."  
  
"What am I supposed to do, complain? I just don't know how I'm gonna explain it to my parents. You got family?"  
  
"I did."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I came to work for this place. It lost their trust. Not to mention that my dad ran out on me and my sister when he found out about.... Everything the day before my wedding. And my mom died a few years ago."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"I'm over it."  
  
"Still, you seem like a really cool person for all this bad stuff to be happening to."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"So, do you ever plan to have kids?"  
  
"We can't."  
  
"I thought vampires could...."  
  
"Myths. Angel can't, therefore I can't."  
  
"Sorry. Touchy subject."  
  
"Actually, no. I've accepted the fact that we'll never have kids. Maybe we can adopt someday when I feel ready."  
  
"Change of subject. So you guys, like, fight crime and save the world here, that sort of stuff?"  
  
"Well, that's the idea."  
  
"Wow. Is everyone here a superhero? This place must be insane."  
  
"It's mostly paralegals and secretaries. Pretty boring, really."  
  
As they walked down the hall together, Buffy and Connor had to stop as Spike was thrown through the training room doors. His clipboard was thrown after him. "You filthy harlot!" Spike got to his feet. "I'm gonna tear your neck out!" He charged back into the training room intently.  
  
"You wanna meet some of my co-workers?"  
  
"Ok."  
  
Buffy tentatively opened the door and peered in. When she thought it was safe, she allowed Connor to head on in. Illyria was standing on Spike's head, holding him down with one foot. "Guys, you wanna come here for a second?" Buffy asked. Illyria took her foot off of Spike's head and quickly turned to face Buffy.  
  
"What is she?" Connor asked.  
  
"She's a.... to be honest, I really don't know. She's some sort of ancient demon."  
  
"She have any powers?"  
  
"Glad you asked." Spike said. "So far, I've established that she can hit like a Mack truck, selectively alter the flow of time, and, uh.... possibly talk to plants."  
  
"I'd like to keep Spike as my pet." Illyria said.  
  
"Sure whatever." Buffy said. Spike scoffed. "Connor, this is Spike and Illyria. Guys, this is Connor." Spike looked at Buffy knowingly and she just lifted an eyebrow.  
  
"Hi." Connor said. Illyria stared at him, looking up and down his body, then into his eyes. "Um.... I like your outfit."  
  
"Your body warms." Illyria said to him. She looked at Buffy. "This one is lusting after me."  
  
"Oh.... no, I.... I.... It's just that.... it's the outfit." Connor leaned over to Buffy. "I guess I've always had a thing for older women."  
  
"They were supposed to fix that." Buffy mumbled.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing. Connor's brought us a case. We're looking into it, just showing him around."  
  
Lorne walked into the training room. "Hey.... you kids playing in the training room?"  
  
"Whoa! Man, this place is way better than college." Connor said.  
  
"Yeah, Blondie-babe, Wes is requesting your presence upstairs. Has a little demon info for your peepers."  
  
"Ok. You ready?" Buffy asked Connor.  
  
"Yeah, sure." Connor looked back at Spike and Illyria. "It was nice meeting you."  
  
"You like college?"  
  
"Not as cool as this, but yeah."  
  
"Lemme guess.... Notre Dame."  
  
"No. Stanford."  
  
"Stanford? Nice. When did you start?"  
  
"Well, I went to Notre Dame, but I didn't really like it too much. More sports than learning. So, mom and dad sent me to Stanford."  
  
"Very nice." 


	35. Origin p2

Chapter 35  
  
Buffy stopped at the door to her office. "Can you guys wait here for just one second?" She walked in and gently shut the door. "Angel?"  
  
He turned around in his chair behind the desk. "He out there?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"How.... How is he?"  
  
"Thrilled to be here."  
  
"How's he taking everything?"  
  
"Actually.... A lot better than I did. He's.... It's amazing what kind of outlook he's got. Must be that Stanford outlook."  
  
"Stanford?"  
  
"Yeah. He didn't like Notre Dame. You owe me ten bucks."  
  
"Damn it."  
  
"Listen.... About earlier...."  
  
"It was my fault. I blew up about it. I'm sorry."  
  
"Apology accepted. So, are you ready to greet our son?"  
  
"As I'll ever be."  
  
"Fix your collar." Buffy opened the door. "Come on in guys. Wes." Wesley pulled out a file and grabbed pictures inside them. Buffy and Connor looked at them. "That's them."  
  
"Kith'harn demons. In Los Angeles, they're the known henchmen of a warlock called Cyvus Vail." Wesley said.  
  
"What do we know about him?" Angel asked.  
  
"He's powerful. Heads up a large demon empire, has tendrils stretching throughout L.A."  
  
"Tendril-tendrils?"  
  
"Metaphor-tendrils." Lorne said.  
  
"What does he want with me?" Connor asked.  
  
"If he's using his Kith'harn demons, he's not trying to remain anonymous." Wesley said.  
  
Angel dropped the pictures and walked toward the door. "Where are you going?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Go visit Mr. Vail." Angel said.  
  
"I'll come with." Connor said.  
  
"No. You're here."  
  
"Angel, we know hardly anything about this man. If he's trying to bait you...." Wesley said.  
  
"It's not up for discussion."  
  
"At least take backup...."  
  
"I said I'd take care of it, Wes. Drop it!" With that, Angel was gone. Connor and Lorne looked uncomfortable at Angel's tone. Wesley watched with disappointment and confusion as Angel walked out of the room.  
  
"He's, uh.... He's kinda.... He's grumpy." Buffy ran out after him and jumped on the elevator before the doors closed. "Angel...."  
  
"What?" Angel asked.  
  
"Are we doing this again?"  
  
"Doing what?"  
  
"This! Fighting! Over our son. Do you know how much I feel like my parents right about now?"  
  
"Buffy...."  
  
"I don't know what demon is sucking on your soul now, but this is ridiculous. That's our son. He needs our help...."  
  
"And I'm helping."  
  
"With grumpiness towards everyone else. Including me." Buffy took Angel's hand. "I love you, Angel. Don't let this place take you away from me too." She wiped away a tear. "God! I feel like I'm sixteen all over again."  
  
"Listen.... I just feel a little.... I don't know. I guess I feel pissed that this happened. I never thought I'd have to see him again and he shows up...."  
  
"He's our son. Why wouldn't he show up? I've been expecting him to."  
  
"You have?"  
  
"Of course I have! I'm his mother. I know more than you do."  
  
"Oh, of course."  
  
***  
  
Angel threw the limp body of a demon through the door in front of him and into the room, landing on the floor and sliding toward Cyvus Vail's feet. Buffy and Angel walked through the door to see a man sitting in a large, elegant chair in a large, well-decorated but empty room. IV drips attached to him hung on a mobile stand. The man, had dark reddish skin and straggly, thinning, white hair and he wheezed when he breathed, which he did with the assistance of oxygen tubes.  
  
"Did you kill all of my guards?" Vail wheezed.  
  
"All the ones we could find." Angel replied.  
  
"Mmm. I should have given them the day off. I wasn't trying to kill your son, you know. I simply needed him to understand what he is capable of."  
  
"How do you know about Connor?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I built him."  
  
"What do you mean 'built him'?"  
  
"Could you help me up? I'd have one of my guards do it, but, well, you know." Angel helped Vail to his feet. "Thank you." Angel ripped the oxygen tubes from Vail's face and pushed him back into the chair and squeezed his throat violently. "When Connor was 5, he got lost in a department store. He wandered off while his family was shopping. It scared the poor child nearly half to death."  
  
"That never happened." Buffy said.  
  
"Yes.... but he remembers it happening." Angel let Vail go. "He remembers screaming in the middle of the store. He remembers his mother rushing towards him. And he remembers his father sweeping him up into his arms."  
  
"You built his memories." Angel said.  
  
"I did. He is some of my finest work."  
  
"What do you want?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I need someone dead. A demon.... named Sahjahn."  
  
"Sahjahn."  
  
Vail got to his feet and pulled his IV with him. "I believe you both tussled with him before. He's a nasty little cur!"  
  
"He's gone. Justine trapped him in a bottle." Angel said.  
  
Vail opened a cabinet and revealed the urn is inside the cabinet. "An urn.... actually. It's a morbid thing. Doesn't really go with my decor."  
  
"He's trapped. Let him rot." Buffy said.  
  
"Urns tend to break. Long lost enemies tend to return. I need finality to my affairs." Vail held out his right hand, palm up and waved his left hand at it, conjuring a glowing yellow glass cube in the right hand. "Do either of you know what an Orlon Window is? It's a fascinating little spell. It allows warlocks such as myself to see the past as it once was. You have to be careful with it, though. If it were to break around someone whose mind had been altered, then all his old memories would come rushing back." Angel started towards Vail. "Careful, Angel! I gave Connor his happy life." The cube faded into thin air. "Are you certain you can kill me.... before I can take it away from him? I built your son. I am not the sort of man you want as an enemy."  
  
"Fine. I'll do it. I'll kill Sahjahn." Angel said.  
  
"If it were that simple, I'd do it myself. No, the prophecy is quite clear. There is only one person who can kill Sahjahn."  
  
"Connor." Buffy said, remembering the prophecy.  
  
"So.... you see our problem. I turned your son into a healthy boy. And now, I need you two.... to turn him back into a killer."  
  
***  
  
Buffy found Connor looking at her high school yearbook up in the penthouse with Dawn. They were laughing and carrying on about something. The way they were acting, it was almost as if they were flirting. "Oh no!" Buffy walked over to them. "Connor, we need to see you downstairs."  
  
"What's going on?" Connor asked.  
  
"Something's come up. I'll meet you in the office. Just push the second button."  
  
"Ok."  
  
Buffy turned to look at Dawn. She was smiling. "No."  
  
"No what?" Dawn asked.  
  
"You can't like him."  
  
"Why not? He's cute and sweet."  
  
"He's in college. He's too old for you."  
  
"Oh please! You're married to a 300 year old!"  
  
"He's 251, not 300."  
  
"Like that makes a difference."  
  
"Dawn, you can't like him. You can't date him. You just can't anything with him."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because you can't."  
  
"Buffy.... What's going on?"  
  
"I can't tell you."  
  
"Right, some big thing you have to hide from little Dawn. Newsflash Buffy: I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm almost 18."  
  
"Don't remind me."  
  
"And I'll date whoever I want. But it won't be Connor. I don't like him like that."  
  
"Good." Buffy nodded. "Very good." She turned and walked out.  
  
Buffy stepped off the elevator just as Connor said, "He wants me to kill somebody?"  
  
"I guess I missed the story." Buffy said.  
  
"A demon named Sahjahn. We've fought him before." Angel said, taking Buffy's hand.  
  
"Why me? Why do I have to do it?"  
  
Angel looked to Buffy for help. Buffy walked over and sat on the armrest of Connor's chair. "Because you're special. There's a prophecy that says you're the only one who can kill him."  
  
"Why are we even entertaining this?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Vail's made some convincing threats." Angel said.  
  
"Since when do we give in to threats?"  
  
"He's not threatening you. He's threatening my family." Connor said.  
  
"He's right." Buffy said.  
  
"We can't trust anything from Vail." Wesley said. "He did a massive spell the day we took over Wolfram & Hart. Until we understand why...."  
  
"Is he pretty strong, this Sahjahn?" Connor asked Buffy.  
  
"That's a bit of an understatement. Last time you two fought him, Sahjahn nearly killed you both."  
  
"Is that true?"  
  
Buffy looked Connor and moved his hair away from his eyes. "This is different. Like I said.... you're special."  
  
"We don't have a choice, do we?"  
  
"Of course we have a choice. We just need time to figure out what Vail did." Wesley said.  
  
"We don't have time." Angel said.  
  
"If I kill Sahjahn, Vail will leave my family alone?" Buffy and Angel nodded at Connor. Connor seemed to think it over, then stood. "What are we waiting for?"  
  
Buffy stood proudly and followed Connor out of the office and to the training room. A moment later, Angel joined them. "You're not alone in this. Angel and I'll be right there with you." Buffy said.  
  
"You two gonna hold Sahjahn down while I stab him?" Connor asked.  
  
"Prophecy doesn't say you can't have a little help."  
  
"Hardly seems fair."  
  
"Fair's not something we worry about." Angel said.  
  
"Maybe you should. I'm not a bully. If I'm gonna do this, you gotta let me do it my way. Now I just gotta figure out what my way is."  
  
"You'll have your whole life for that." Buffy said.  
  
"Might as well start now."  
  
"All right. Let me show you a few things."  
  
"Well, yeah.... I'm all noble and stuff, but I'm not an idiot. I've been in one fight in my entire life, and you bailed me out of it." Connor looked at the weapons on the wall. "Should I take one of these with me? An ax, or whatever this thing is." He knocked one of the weapons off the wall and it clanged as it fell to the floor. "Sorry."  
  
Buffy picked up the axe. "That's ok. Probably stay away from the weapons for now."  
  
"Ok. Sorry."  
  
"Look, you're faster than Sahjahn. Use it. He talks a lot. He'll try to lull you into slowing down. Don't listen. Hit him quick. Keep moving." Angel instructed.  
  
"Slow down Angel." Buffy said.  
  
Connor looked at her. "Do you really think I can do this?"  
  
Buffy touched Connor's arm. "I know you can."  
  
***  
  
Buffy, Angel, and Connor walked into the receiving room of Vail's home. "This place smells like a retirement home." Connor said. Buffy chuckled.  
  
"Welcome. I've been waiting for you." Vail said.  
  
"Oh, lord. Look at him."  
  
"Shh!" Angel said to Connor. He turned to Vail. "Listen, Vail, we won't be staying long."  
  
"Here's how it works." Connor interrupted. "I kill this Sahjahn thing, and we walk. You come near my family again, and I'll slit your throat. And if that doesn't kill ya, I'll chop your whole head off. And if that doesn't work, I'll.... I'll just keep.... stabbing you till you bleed to death. Understand?" Buffy smiled and Angel elbowed her.  
  
"I do." Vail said.  
  
"Good. So.... where is he?"  
  
"Right through there."  
  
Connor looked to the adjacent room with a long table beneath a crystal chandelier. "Ok. See you guys later." He walked toward the next room.  
  
Angel jumped to Connor's side. "Listen, he's gonna talk to you. Don't let him distract you."  
  
"I won't."  
  
"Even if he's on the ground, do not take your eyes off him."  
  
"Ok."  
  
"Whatever you do, do not...."  
  
"Dude, you're starting to freak me out."  
  
"Right. Sorry." Connor started to walk toward the room, but Angel grabbed his arm. "Oh...." Angel straightened Connor's shirt collar. "Sorry. Go get him." Angel stepped back as Connor walked into the next room. "I'll be right over here."  
  
Buffy looked at her husband. "Who's the mother again?"  
  
"Shut up."  
  
Connor looked over at the doors, but he seemed confused. "He can't see us anymore." Vail said.  
  
"Why not?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I can't risk Sahjahn getting loose. He has a nasty habit of trying to kill me. But don't worry. Your boy is very brave. I'm sure he'll do you both very proud."  
  
Connor looked at the urn on the table and sighed as he psyched himself up for the task ahead. "Open sesame. Or whatever." He took the top off of the urn, and silvery smoke emanated from it, assembling nearby, forming Sahjahn.  
  
Sahjahn turned and looked at Connor. "Thank you, mortal, for releasing me from my cursed prison. In gratitude, I grant you 3 wishes."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Nah. I'm just messing with you."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I do appreciate it, though. Ahh.... that urn wasn't exactly a day at the spa. I owe you one."  
  
"Right. Well, before you start trying to kiss me, I should probably tell ya.... you and I, we're, uh.... supposed to fight."  
  
"Is that right?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Now, why would you want...." Sahjahn looked closer at Connor. "Ah.... you're him."  
  
"Yeah. I'm me. Hi. You can take a moment, if you want." He pointed at the table. "There's some weapons and stuff over here if you think you'll need them."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"No, he's talking to him. Why is he talking to him? I told him not to talk to him." Angel said to Buffy.  
  
"Are you saying I talk too much?" Buffy asked jokingly. "He got it from me. Leave him alone."  
  
"Uh.... worked out great. Thanks for asking." Connor said.  
  
"You know, I've had a long time to plan for this moment. I figured you'd be a lot more.... intimidating." Sahjahn said.  
  
"Yeah. Well.... I figured I was going to Tony Roma's with my folks tonight, but.... I'm here. Learn to cope."  
  
"I'll work on it." Sahjahn pulled a fast punch, knocking Connor to the ground.  
  
Buffy rushed toward the room, but the barrier preventing Connor and Sahjahn from seeing out also prevented her from getting in. Buffy turned and glared at Vail. "Sorry. Not your fight." Vail said.  
  
"That's my son." Buffy growled.  
  
"And it's his fight."  
  
"Ow! God, that really hurt!" Connor said.  
  
"Did it?" Sahjahn asked.  
  
"Yeah!"  
  
"You need to call a time out?"  
  
"No. I'm all right." Sahjahn took a couple of swings at Connor, but missed as Connor ducked out of the way each time. Connor punched and connected with Sahjahn's face, and Sahjahn returned the favor, punching Connor and knocking him down.  
  
Buffy moved towards Vail. "Open the doorway. Right now."  
  
Vail held the glowing yellow glass cube in his hand. "Or you'll what? Relax. Your son has to grow up sooner or later. Sit back and watch his future unfold." Sahjahn punched Connor twice in the face and he staggered back, but didn't fall down. "There's no need to bring back the past if we don't have to."  
  
Buffy watched as Connor threw a punch, but Sahjahn caught his fist before it connected and punched Connor in the stomach before slinging him across the room. Connor swung at Sahjahn, but didn't faze him. Sahjahn punched Connor in the kidneys, sending him to the ground.  
  
"You know.... I went through a lot of trouble to get rid of you." Sahjahn said. "What a colossal waste of time that turned out to be." He kicked Connor in the ribs, sending him flying across the room.  
  
"God damn it! Open it NOW!" Angel yelled. When he and Buffy turned to face Vail, they saw that Vail was frozen in time and wasn't holding the box anymore. They looked around the room and saw Illyria standing there beside Wesley, who was holding the glowing yellow cube now.  
  
"You two changed the world." Wesley said.  
  
"Wes.... what are you doing?"  
  
"You sold us out to Wolfram & Hart."  
  
"Be careful."  
  
"Is this your 30 pieces of silver?"  
  
"Wes.... give me that."  
  
Illyria backhanded Angel, sending him flying across the room and he slid across the floor. "He doesn't follow you any longer."  
  
Buffy glanced in the other room where Sahjahn was sending Connor flying across the room, and he slid across the floor. Sahjahn grabbed Connor by the lapels and lifted him into the air before slamming him on the table. Connor groaned. "You changed the world." Wesley said behind her.  
  
"He's my son, Wesley." Buffy said. "Connor's mine and Angel's son."  
  
"Did you trade her? Did you trade Fred for your son?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Everything that's happened since we took over Wolfram & Hart, everything that's happened to...." Wesley looked at Illyria. "Her.... Did you know? Was Fred the price?"  
  
"No." Buffy helped Angel up. "Wesley.... I can explain. Just put that down."  
  
"Why are you both so afraid of this? He said it would bring back the past. Will it undo what you've done?"  
  
"No. It won't bring her back." Angel said.  
  
"Let's find out." Wesley motioned like he was going to throw the glass cube to the ground.  
  
"No!" Buffy and Angel yelled.  
  
"Please. You have to trust us." Buffy said.  
  
"I can't. Not anymore." Wesley slammed the glass cube into the ground. As it shattered, the cube released an explosion of bright yellow light, sending everyone in the room back from the blast. Wesley, his past memories now available to him, stared at Buffy and Angel in shock and dismay. Buffy remembered her son was nearby as well.  
  
"Connor!" She got to her feet.  
  
In the adjacent room, Sahjahn had Connor bent over the table, choking him. Connor suddenly reached up and grabbed Sahjahn's throat and squeezed, then used his grip to sling Sahjahn over the table and away from him. Connor gets to his feet. "Lucky shot." Sahjahn said.  
  
Connor rolled over the tabletop, grabbing an axe, and faced Sahjahn. He now seemed more comfortable in his own skin, fighting evenly with Sahjahn. They exchanged punches and kicks, but Connor stunned Sahjahn with a punch, and seized the opportunity by swinging the axe at his head, slicing it clean off. Connor stood over Sahjahn's body, panting. Noticing the barrier between the rooms had vanished, Buffy rushed to Connor.  
  
"Whoa! You see that?" Connor asked. "I went a little hard-core there for a second. That guy made me really cranky."  
  
"Are you ok?" Buffy asked, checking for any wounds.  
  
"Yeah. I guess. I don't really like people touching my neck, you know?"  
  
"Connor...." Angel started.  
  
"Hey, can we.... get outta here? I'd like to go back.... see my parents. This whole fighting thing, I'm not.... I'm not really sure it's for me."  
  
"Yeah. Let's get out of here." Buffy said, touching Connor's back and herding him out of the room.  
  
***  
  
Buffy and Angel stared out the window of their office. He held onto her waist as she leaned up against his chest. "I thought sunlight burned you up." Connor said behind them.  
  
They turned and Angel knocked on the window. "Special glass."  
  
"And special ring." Buffy said.  
  
"Cool."  
  
"How's your dad?"  
  
"He's fine. They're releasing him now. I should warn you.... he's pretty pissed. I told him that you took me out demon fighting and, uh, almost got me killed. He wants to have a talk with you guys."  
  
Angel looked at Buffy. "All right. I'll, uh...."  
  
"I'm kidding! Man, you gotta lighten up. He thinks we spent the whole night doing tests. I told him I could bench press, like, 1,000 pounds."  
  
"What are you gonna tell them about.... who you are?"  
  
"The truth, more or less. I'll tell them that I'm different. I'll tell them it's.... actually a good thing. I'll tell them to stop worrying so much."  
  
"Well, they're parents." Buffy said.  
  
"Yeah, I know. They'll feel a lot better knowing you guys're looking out for me."  
  
"We still haven't found Vail, but we will."  
  
"I'm not too worried about him. Nothing he can show me I haven't already seen. Anyway.... I just wanted to say good-bye. I gotta go back to my life now."  
  
"Oh.... do you really have to leave? I mean, right now?" Angel asked.  
  
"I kinda think I should. I need to take care of my parents. This isn't their world. They really don't feel safe here." Connor looked into Buffy and Angel's eyes. "You gotta do what you can to protect your family. I learned that from my mother and father."  
  
Buffy and Angel watched Connor walk out of their office toward the elevator. Connor pressed the elevator button and waited. When the elevator door opened, he cast one last glance at them, then walked onto the elevator. Buffy took Angel's hand and watched the doors close. 


	36. Time Bomb p1

Chapter 36  
  
"Lorne, you can't be serious." Buffy said.  
  
"You've got sex appeal." Lorne said. "They want you."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because you're the hot new thing in the business world. This is your shot to make this law firm look good."  
  
"By posing for Maxim?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"This is an entertainment magazine."  
  
"Not necessarily."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"It was until they got a load of the pictures they requested to see."  
  
"What pictures, Lorne? What did you send?"  
  
"Just a few home photos of you hanging around with your pals. They also saw the commercial."  
  
Buffy covered her face. "Oh my God, Lorne! The people that pose for this magazine are people who are willing to be in Playboy. I'm not. I'm not taking my clothes off for anyone but Angel."  
  
"Well, I can arrange for him to be there."  
  
"Oh, Lorne!"  
  
"It'd be a great birthday present for Angel."  
  
"His birthday's not till next month."  
  
"And the magazine wouldn't be out till next month."  
  
"I can't. It's degrading."  
  
"I'll make sure you're more covered up than Christina Aguilara in the early days." Lorne smiled. "And speaking of birthdays.... Dawn's is coming up soon. Have you got those party plans for me?"  
  
"Yeah." Buffy pulled out a Wolfram and Hart file marked CONFIDENTIAL. "It's all in there." She handed it to Lorne.  
  
"Thanks, Blondie. You're a doll." Lorne stood and headed for the door just as Angel walked in. "And think about that magazine spread, will ya?"  
  
"What magazine spread?" Angel asked as he shut the door behind Lorne.  
  
"Lorne wants me to do this magazine cover to promote Wolfram and Hart."  
  
"Oh.... You should do it. It'd bring more human clients in."  
  
"Yeah, more male clients."  
  
"Of course it would."  
  
"I think that's all it would bring. I don't know many women who read Maxim."  
  
"Maxim? What's that?" Buffy held up the current edition of Maxim with a half nude celebrity that Angel didn't recognize. "Oh.... Oh! No way! You're not doing that."  
  
"Didn't plan on it." Buffy shuddered and tossed the magazine in the trash. "And it's gonna stay there. I have more decency than that." The phone rang. "Yeah? He did? Good." She pushed another button on the phone. "Harmony, can you send Wesley in here please?"  
  
"Who did what?" Angel asked, leaning against the desk facing Buffy.  
  
"I had Wesley send Illyria in to get Gunn."  
  
"What?"  
  
"It was the only logical way to do it."  
  
"You know that's dangerous."  
  
"Only slightly. But I can't just leave Gunn in there. It's not what he deserves despite what he thinks."  
  
Wesley walked in. "You wanted to see me?"  
  
"Is Illyria back yet?"  
  
"Not yet."  
  
"I can't believe you two just sent her to rescue Gunn!" Angel said.  
  
"We didn't send her. We were discussing Gunn. I explained his situation, our inability to get him out. She nodded, created a portal, and disappeared."  
  
"So she's just, what, helping you two out? She's your little helper."  
  
"I would hardly call her...."  
  
"Well, she sure was helpful beatin' me up. Wes, do you have any idea why she's doing all this for you two?"  
  
Buffy raised her hand. "I know why she does things for me." They looked at her expectantly. "She said that I defeated a god, so I must be in the league of gods or something like that and I was worthy enough of her company. I think she's scared of me." Buffy shook her head. "But really, Angel, does it matter? She may be able to get him out."  
  
"Or she might get him killed. It doesn't track. Why would she take on any risk for us?"  
  
"I doubt this poses a risk to her. She has the power of a god." Wesley said.  
  
"She has the ego of a god."  
  
"She was ruler of the world." Buffy said. "It goes to a person's head."  
  
"Apparently."  
  
"I am making progress." Wesley said. "There is distance, of course. She would never accept any of us as peers.... With the exception of Buffy.... But, I afford her some amusement at the very least. It may be why she's still here."  
  
"She's still here because this place reeks of influence. She had everything. Everything. You think she's not lookin' to get that back?"  
  
"I wouldn't presume to know what she wants. But I understand the resource, the power she represents. If we could just find some way to integrate her, to convince her to...."  
  
"To do what? Join the team?" A portal suddenly appeared in the office and Illyria brought Gunn through it, pushing him to the floor at her feet. "Gunn."  
  
Wesley stood. "Illyria."  
  
Illyria grabbed Gunn by the throat and lifted him into the air. "This thing...."  
  
"Let him go." Angel said.  
  
"It's important to you."  
  
"Illyria, stop." Wesley said.  
  
"It holds value.... worth beyond price."  
  
"I said, let him...." Angel started.  
  
"Yes, great worth." Buffy said suddenly. "A big ol' honkin' debt. You're talking about the debt, aren't you.... of what we owe you?"  
  
Gunn grunted as she dropped him and he fell to the ground. "Of what you owe me." With that, Illyria walked out of the office.  
  
"Go team." Angel said.  
  
The next day, Buffy watched as Illyria punched Spike in the chest, sending him across the training room floor. Spike slid across the floor on his feet, but didn't fall this time. "Ooh! All right, grandma. Give ya that. Good one." Spike said. Spike charged Illyria, who kicked and punched him, but missed. Spike caught her fist in his hand and punched her quickly in the face. She stepped back and circled him slowly, watching him constantly.  
  
"This shell.... you had affection for it, for Fred." Illyria said.  
  
"Tons. Loved the bird."  
  
"Yet you strike at her form without sentiment."  
  
"You ain't her. I can see it. Lord knows I can smell it. And I got no problem hitting it." Spike swung at Illyria, who caught his punch and kneed him between the legs.  
  
Illyria clutched her stomach after Spike hit her there. "You're adapting."  
  
"We do that."  
  
"Adaptation is compromise." She swung a low kick at Spike's ankles.  
  
He jumped to avoid it. "It's called learning. But then I guess you know everything there is to know."  
  
"When the world met me, it shuddered, groaned. It knelt at my feet."  
  
"'Dear Penthouse, I don't normally write letters like this, but.....'" Illyria punched him in the face, knocking him back a few steps. "Oh, ho ho!"  
  
"Illyria was all they needed to know."  
  
"Then came the Internet."  
  
"You have nothing. Your kind has pulled this domain apart. Each of you has snatched a tiny piece of it. Even those with the mightiest hoards are paupers."  
  
"The one who dies with the most toys wins, eh?"  
  
"To never die.... and to conquer all, that is winning."  
  
Spike started charging at Illyria again, but with a wave of her hand she slowed time. Spike soared through the air toward her at a snail's pace as she walked normally past him. When he reached the floor, he was back to normal time. He looked around, confused at not seeing Illyria. He turned to see her standing behind him. "Now that's cheating." Illyria kicked Spike hard in the stomach, sending him across the room. He hit the wall where the observation window was and fell to the floor in a heap.  
  
Angel, who was standing beside Buffy, pushed the intercom. "Spike, talk to you for a minute."  
  
"You may go." Illyria said.  
  
"Huh!" Spike wiped blood from his lip. "Yeah, great. Thanks so much." He walked out and then into the observation room. "That time-stop thing is a royal bitch, but I'm starting to suss out her million-year-old moves. Cheeky mix. Little tae kwon do, little Brazilian Ninjitsu, ancestrally speaking."  
  
"You have to stop these sessions." Angel said.  
  
"Now hang on. Just now getting into it."  
  
"Spike...." Buffy said.  
  
"Don't suppose you think it's your turn, do you?" The Slayer raised an eyebrow. "I'm just testing her has sharpened technique I didn't even know was rusty."  
  
"We're not testing her, Spike. She's testing us." Angel said. Illyria stepped out of the training room into the observation area. She doubled over in pain, clutching her stomach and panting.  
  
"Got her winded at least, didn't I?" Spike asked. "That's right, little Shiva. Reckon you'll think twice next time. Good knee to the ribs does tend to catch up on you, doesn't it?"  
  
Buffy's cell trilled. "Yeah? In the training room. What do you mean it's not in our records? Well, I didn't hire you for nothing. No, go down to files and records and look harder. Well, maybe you're searching for it wrong. I know the system a little better than you. I only designed it! Maybe you're putting in the information wrong. I'll be there in a minute." Buffy shut her phone. "Worthless."  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing. I just have an entirely worthless staff is all. I'll see you for lunch later Angel." Buffy glanced at Illyria as she walked out. "Are you gonna be ok?"  
  
Illyria looked at the men and then back at Buffy. "I will follow you. These beings are of no value to me at the moment."  
  
"Yeah, ok. Maybe you can stand and glare while I yell."  
  
Half an hour later, Buffy was called to her office for a meeting. She told Illyria to watch the morons until she got back. When Buffy walked in, Spike was saying, "Ok, the upshot is you don't like babe the blue ox in your house, and you want to get rid of her." Buffy went and sat with Angel at the head of the conference table. Wesley sat to his left, and Lorne beside him. Gunn was at his right and Spike was pacing behind him near the window.  
  
"Yeah." Angel said.  
  
"So.... are we talking pasture.... or slaughterhouse?"  
  
"She didn't have a problem killing Fred, did she?"  
  
"Illyria infected Fred, with no more malice than a viral phage." Wesley said.  
  
"Hey, look, Wes, I know you're bonding with her, but...."  
  
"But she's unpredictable, dangerous, too powerful a being, too close to being an enemy. Yes, Angel. It's self-evident."  
  
"Which means we have to find some kind of weakness, some point of vulnerability...."  
  
"You want me to find a way to kill her."  
  
"You got a problem with that?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Good. Because we got more than enough problems to worry about."  
  
"Yeah, for example, what about the Apocalypse?" Gunn asked. "Still trying to get my head around that one. Lindsey said we're in the middle of it?"  
  
"Oh, forgot to tell you. The thousand-year war of good versus evil is well under way." Buffy said. "Evil just hasn't told anyone about it yet, which is probably why they're winning."  
  
"Oh, and by the way, we're apparently on the wrong side." Spike said. "Or the right side, if you like winning."  
  
"Sounds like you guys are buying it." Gunn said.  
  
"Next time you go out there, take a good look around. Cause it's true, Gunn." Angel said.  
  
"Works for me. So what's that mean for us?"  
  
"Tell us how we fight an invisible war. I don't even know who we're fighting."  
  
"All the evil we've stopped so far, and we're still the partners' number- one earner." Buffy said. Hamilton walked into the room. "Oh goody, it's my stalker." She muttered to Angel.  
  
He addressed only Buffy and Angel. "Not anymore. Let me ask you two something. Have you ever heard the term 'surgical strike'?"  
  
"Ever heard the term 'appointment'?"  
  
"Illyria destroyed 11 torture units before she found your man. 2 troop carriers, an ice cream truck, and 8 beautifully maintained lawns. Not to mention dozens of employees rendered useless to the company."  
  
"Bill us." Angel said.  
  
"Oh, we will. The damages are coming directly out of this division's profits. Congratulations. In one swift stroke, you've gone from leader of the pack to staggering at the rear."  
  
"And...."  
  
"You two are motivated go-getters at the top of the corporate ladder. Why don't you figure out what comes after 'and...'.?"  
  
"We're workin' on that." Buffy said.  
  
"Yes, I'm sure you are. In the meantime, the partners have a small task they'd like you to oversee. I'm sending Gunn the file. It's good to see you again, by the way. It's a simple matter, but with some very big players."  
  
"If this is our chance to get into a better grace with the head office, I have to say it's not our priority." Angel said.  
  
"Oh, no, don't think about us. Think about profits. It's profits that let you keep this plucky little boatload of good above water. It's a business, boys and girl, not a bat cave." He walked out.  
  
"Well, I'll tell you what...." Lorne said. "Still like him better than Eve." Everyone got up to leave.  
  
"I think I liked Eve better." Buffy said to Lorne as she walked him to the door. "She didn't stalk me half as much."  
  
"What do you mean buttercup?"  
  
"Ever since he got here, he hasn't stopped bugging me about every little thing. And he gives me lusty eye." She shuddered. "Ick."  
  
"A man that goes after a married woman." Lorne tisk-ed. "Sad, sad world."  
  
Buffy shut the door and looked at Angel leaning against the desk. "You ok?"  
  
"Fine." Angel tossed, going around and plopping down in his seat behind the desk.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"I said I'm fine."  
  
"And I know you're not."  
  
"Would you just stop?"  
  
"Stop what?"  
  
"Stop pushing."  
  
"No. I won't."  
  
Angel looked up at her sharply. "I don't want to argue any more than we already are."  
  
"What are we arguing about this time?"  
  
"What AREN'T we arguing about?"  
  
Buffy shrugged. "I couldn't tell you."  
  
Angel snorted and stood up. "It seems like lately, every time I turn around, we're arguing about something."  
  
The Slayer crossed her arms. "Please, go on."  
  
"It's this place! Haven't you noticed it?" When Buffy didn't answer, Angel continued. "Ever since we came here, it's been driving us apart."  
  
"I noticed."  
  
"You spend more time with everyone else than you do me."  
  
"That's not my fault."  
  
"I can't believe you. Every day I get more miserable because you're not around and when you are, we're arguing. Like yesterday.... You just send Illyria off without consulting me."  
  
"Well, last time I checked, I have the authority to do that. I'm C.E.O. too you know."  
  
"Buffy...."  
  
Gunn walked into the office. "Just got the file from Hamilton. Skimming it now. Looks like some sort of ceremonial demon pact. You have to sign as witness for the firm." He looked up at Buffy and Angel who crossed their arms and looked away from each other. "Is this a bad time?"  
  
"No." Buffy said as Angel said, "Yes."  
  
"I could come back."  
  
"No. Stay. We need to work this case before the Senior Partners pull a fast one on us." Buffy looked at Angel and he stared back for a minute. Then, he nodded his head and they looked at Gunn. Buffy nodded. "You've met Hamilton."  
  
"Sorry?"  
  
"The new liaison. You met him before today?"  
  
"Yeah. Came down to my basement for a visit while I was getting carved. Offered to get me out."  
  
"And what'd you say?" Angel asked.  
  
"Do you really have to ask me that?"  
  
"I really do."  
  
"I turned him down. Not into making deals. Not anymore."  
  
"Well, that's gonna make it tough to be a lawyer."  
  
"It was tough already. Making business go smoothly for a bunch of hideous, scaly, evil clients."  
  
A very pregnant blonde woman stepped into the office. "Excuse me.... I'm here about the demon pact."  
  
Buffy, Angel, and Gunn sat at the conference table with the woman, Amanda. She looked like she was ready give birth at anytime. "They found me." She said. "They said that they had these seer people who told them my baby was some kind of holy one. They said it was a prophecy."  
  
"How much do you know about the Fell Brethren?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Well, they're really religious. I mean, their religion, not the God one. But they've been really supportive. They're always bringing me special shakes and vitamins...."  
  
"You realize they're demons." Angel said.  
  
"Uh-huh. They're very open about it."  
  
"Well, any demonic pact should be entered into with caution." Gunn said. "They can be riddled with obscure clauses and doubletalk. As our client, we have to advise you...."  
  
"She's not your client. We are." Three demons were standing at the door to the conference room, dressed in long black hooded robes. The demons had round, bald heads and uneven gray-green skin. The one who had spoken explained what was going on with the baby and Amanda.  
  
"You're sure you want to do this?" Buffy asked Amanda.  
  
"Yeah, because it's not too late, Amanda." Gunn said. "This contract has some wiggle room somewhere in there. They always do."  
  
"But aren't you the guys that are supposed to tell me to do it?" Amanda asked.  
  
"Oh, we are. And, well, we're not. We, uh...." Buffy tried.  
  
"Angel Ears, this is Secret Demon. Come in." Lorne said on Angel's walkie- talkie. Angel covered it with his hand as Amanda said, "Listen, I've had this talk before, believe me. I know it sounds bad giving up your unborn baby to a supernatural cult, but...."  
  
The walkie-talkie beeped again and Angel put his hands over it, muffling the speech. "Sorry." The walkie-talkie chirped as Angel turned it off and put it in his coat pocket. "Go on."  
  
"See.... their entire nation believes my child is their next, you know, like the Dalai Lama. They're gonna worship him. He'll be cared for better than we could ever. And he'll be someone, somebody important. We'd never be able to give him that."  
  
"Amanda, the Fell Brethren leader makes Jim Jones look like a Sunday school teacher." Gunn said.  
  
"Who's Jim Jones?"  
  
"It doesn't matter." Angel said.  
  
"Mr. Gunn, we can't afford this baby. My husband, he was hurt at work. Brain-damaged, doctors say. Incurable. We're scraping by on food stamps and disability. But the Brethren.... they say they can make him whole again. Make him.... remember who I am. I mean, how does a person turn all that down?"  
  
Gunn closed the file and walked out of the conference room. Angel stood. "Excuse us."  
  
Buffy sighed. "I'll be right back." She stopped the door before Angel could fully close it.  
  
"I'm not feelin' so good." Gunn said.  
  
"First day back from a vacation in hell, you know, I'm not surprised." Angel said.  
  
"Do you know what the worst part of that place was? Wasn't the basement. At least there, you knew where you stood. Demon was gonna cut your heart out and show it to you. Nah. It was the fake life they gave you upstairs. The wife, kids, all the icing on the family cake. But somewhere underneath it, there was the nagging certainty that it was all lies, that all the smiles and the birthday candles and the homework were just there to hide the horror. Is that all we're doing here.... just hiding the horror?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Cause I don't think I can stomach it anymore, not after all that's happened."  
  
Buffy walked up to Gunn and looked at him. "You have to. Listen to me, Gunn. I need you to get through this, to get through all of it so we can figure out the big picture and plot our next move."  
  
"Buffy.... she is our next move."  
  
"Um.... the Brethren have finished their colas, bosses, and the sugar high isn't making them any less...." Harmony said.  
  
"Send them in, Harmony." Angel said. 


	37. Time Bomb p2

Chapter 37  
  
The demons walked in and followed Buffy, Angel, and Gunn back into the conference room. "Amanda." The leader said. He held his arms wide and Amanda stood, turning to him with a smile. "Ya look wonderful, huh? Huh?! So full of life. So how's our little oven-bun? Still kicking up a storm, I hope. Third trimester. Any more pressure, shortness of breath?" Amanda nodded. "Well, that's normal. Are you taking the black cohosh we sent?" Amanda nodded again. "Lovely. Bipmep cut some articles out of this month's 'Fit Pregnancy'. We'll send those along."  
  
"We can get under way." Angel said.  
  
"Ah! Good, good." The demons started signing papers. "And.... there.... and done." He handed the papers to Amanda. "There you are, Amanda."  
  
"Wait a minute. Gordabach?" Gunn asked, reading the contract.  
  
"Yes. Gordabach. Just sign right there, mom."  
  
"No, hang on. I just wanna get this clause straight. 'The child will be pampered, worshipped, and fed a holy diet of berries, panda meat, and urine.'"  
  
"Well, it's consecrated urine."  
  
"'And on the eve of his 13th year, he will be prepared for the rites of Gordabach.'"  
  
"That's what, like a bar mitzvah?" Amanda asked.  
  
"Well, there'll be gifts." The demon said.  
  
"Amanda.... it's a ritual sacri...."  
  
"Whose lawyer are you?!"  
  
Illyria burst into the conference room, making the door slam open. "You will speak to me." She said to Buffy and Angel.  
  
"In the middle of something." Angel said.  
  
"Then I will end it."  
  
"Illyria...."  
  
"Yeah, ok." Buffy said, standing up. "We'll talk."  
  
"Who's this?" The demon asked.  
  
"Come with me." Angel said. He and Illyria walked out.  
  
Buffy looked at the demons and Amanda. "This'll only take a second. She's new to this world." When Buffy made it to the hallway, she found Illyria holding Angel up against the wall.  
  
"Ridiculous apes." Illyria spat. "My death won't prevent your dying. What have you done to me?!"  
  
Buffy grabbed Illyria and hauled her away. "Get your damn hands off him."  
  
"You do not know. Not yet." With that, Illyria stormed off. "It's too early."  
  
"What'd you do to her?" Buffy asked. "Why'd she...."  
  
"She's crazy, that's what." Angel said.  
  
Lorne walked up. "Psst. Ya gotta keep your thingy on for this to work, ok?" Angel pulled Lorne's hat off. "Oh, that's mature!"  
  
"Boss, it's getting a little shouty in your office." Harmony said.  
  
"Let Gunn take care of it." Angel stormed off.  
  
"Angel!" Buffy ran to follow.  
  
He headed to the science lab where Dawn, Spike, and Wesley were. "Illyria's blown all of her gaskets, man. She's outta her mind."  
  
"How can you tell? Yesterday she spent 2 hours mind-melding with a potted fern." Spike said.  
  
"She thinks I'm trying to kill her."  
  
"Aren't you?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Tell me you have something, Dawn. Just anything."  
  
"She is unstable." Dawn said. Spike pressed buttons on the laptop and Dawn went to him. "Overloading, to be more accurate. The fusion between her demon essence and her host's body seems to be deteriorating. It's like the human part of her can't hold the demony power inside." She looked at something through a magnifying lens.  
  
"Hmm. We're thinking that she cracked her engine block and now she's leakin' petrol all over the building." Spike said.  
  
"She's going to self-destruct, violently, and soon." Wesley said.  
  
"And you were gonna tell us this when?" Angel asked.  
  
"I wasn't. Spike, Dawn, and I were dealing with it."  
  
"We're motivated go-getters." Spike said, patting Dawn's shoulder.  
  
"The good news is the crack in her engine block may give us a chance to get to her." Dawn said. She took a large metallic weapon out of the box on the table and handed it to Wesley. "This is a Mutari generator. It makes a pinhole to an infinite extra-dimensional space, a negatively charged pocket universe, that should draw her power into itself by process of a...."  
  
"Dawn. Will it kill her?" Angel asked.  
  
Dawn looked at Wesley. "Yes." He said. "Shall we go?"  
  
"We have to find out where she...." Buffy started.  
  
Spike grabbed the laptop and showed the display to Buffy and Angel. "Oh, here." The display showed a blue dot moving through a map of the building. "Training room, looks like. And gushin' petrol like a geyser." They headed out of the lab and down the halls to the training room. "So what sort of damage are we lookin' at if Illyria Chernobyls on us?"  
  
"Conservative guess, several city blocks." Wesley said.  
  
"And what about unconservative?" Angel asked.  
  
"Rand and McNally will have to redraw their maps."  
  
Lorne was standing outside the training room. Buffy looked at him. "Is she in there?"  
  
"Do you two even know how to use this thing?" Lorne asked, following them inside. There was no one there. "That's funny. I didn't even see her leave."  
  
"Well, that's the problem. You don't always see her when she's...." Spike explode into ash. "Gaah!"  
  
"SPIKE!" Buffy yelled. Illyria appeared behind Spike, staking him. She bent over, clutching her stomach.  
  
"Illyria." Wesley yelled.  
  
"Wes, do it now." Angel charged Illyria. Illyria kicked Angel in the face, sending him across the room. She grabbed a dagger off the wall and hurled it at Wesley, piercing him in the chest; he fell to the ground. She sent her fist through Lorne's chest. Dawn threw herself at Illyria before Buffy could stop her and Illyria snapped Dawn's neck. Angel vamped out and jumped through the air, lunging at Illyria, but not before she grabbed a battle-axe from the wall. She swung it at him, slicing off his head. He turned to ash.  
  
Buffy let out an anguished scream. "Angel! Dawnie! No."  
  
Illyria stood in the center of the room, holding the battle-axe, surveying her handiwork, and smiling. She looked around the room at the bodies of Dawn, Lorne, and Wesley and the piles of ash that used to be Spike and Angel. Buffy, fire in her eyes, launched herself at Illyria just as the demon god clutched her stomach, doubling over in pain.  
  
"We haven't done anything to you." Angel said. Buffy looked up to see him standing in front of Illyria. Buffy herself was just outside of the hall.  
  
"Jealous. Plankton envying the ocean that holds them." Illyria said.  
  
"Yeah, that's great. Listen, I got things...." Angel started to walk off.  
  
Illyria pinned him up against the wall. "Ridiculous apes. My death won't prevent your dying. What have you done to me?!"  
  
"Get your damn hands off him." Buffy yelled as she grabbed Illyria to pull her away. Illyria doubled over in pain and when she looked up, she found herself in Wesley's office having just knocked a glass of water off of his desk. Buffy was there with her.  
  
"Are you all right?" Wesley asked.  
  
"No, I'm not all right." Buffy said. "What the hell did you do to me?"  
  
"Buffy."  
  
"You weren't here before." Illyria said. "Either of you."  
  
"Who.... where did.... what just happened?"  
  
"An aberration in the time line. It wasn't like this...." Illyria doubled over, clutching her stomach, screaming in agony. "Aaaaah!" Illyria recovered to find herself in the basement of the suburban house where Gunn was imprisoned. Buffy was there this time.  
  
Buffy started to flip out. "Damn it! What the hell was this?"  
  
"You followed me."  
  
Buffy saw Gunn lying on the table, still wearing the necklace. "Gunn?"  
  
"You've been swept up in my wake."  
  
"This is the holding dimension."  
  
"How did you worms accomplish this?"  
  
"We didn't. We.... accomplish what?"  
  
"You ripped me out of linear progression, tore my time line into shreds, and stitched it back together out of sequence."  
  
"You killed my family!"  
  
"You caged me in this fractured time frame, in moments that repeat themselves over and over without deviation. But I don't say these words. I rip the necklace off. I lift him from the table. We speak. And the demon attacks again." Illyria punched the demon. "Is it of your sciences? How do you unweave time in this way?"  
  
"This isn't us. We don't have the power to do...."  
  
Illyria punched Buffy, sending her flying across the room. "Do you know what you were when I was young? You were the muck at our feet."  
  
"Will you just shut up for once?!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"My God, the speechifying. Has it ever occurred to you that now might not be the best time for when-we-were-muck stories?"  
  
"You dare to speak to me in this...."  
  
"Yes, I dare. And, yes, we are looking for a way of controlling you any way that we can. I can't have an 'x' factor like you bouncing around unchecked."  
  
"Bouncing around?"  
  
"Yes, and I know you would do the same thing. I know that for a fact. But this is my kingdom, crazy bitch, not yours!"  
  
"Your kingdom! I am Illyria, god-king of the primordium, shaper of things!"  
  
"And I'm Buffy Summers, the longest living Vampire Slayer ever recorded." Illyria doubled over in pain, screaming. When she recovered, Illyria found herself in the training room. Buffy was there with her, but so were the bodies of Dawn, Lorne, and Wesley. "This is.... Now."  
  
"Yes. Nothing's what it used to be, is it? These are the fruits of your attempt to murder me. Your kingdom turned to ash and stale wind. I slew the white-haired one first. And then Wesley, as he raised his weapon.... and your demon clown as he wilted in terror. Then you're precious sister and you're husband."  
  
"And I'm next."  
  
"No, Slayer." Illyria threw her axe into a pile of dust that used to be Angel. "You are last."  
  
"Why? I never attacked you."  
  
"I didn't give you the chance. That you learn when you become a queen." Illyria doubled over, holding her head. "Unh! You learn to destroy everything that's not utterly yours. All that matters is victory. That's how your reign persists. You're a slave to an insane construct. You are moral. A true ruler is as moral as a hurricane, empty but for the force of his gale. But you.... trapped in the web of the Wolf, the Ram, the Hart. So much power here, and you quibble at its price. If you want to win a war, you must serve no master but your ambition. Aaaah! Oh, you have not lied. My undoing is beyond you, your people. Something is broken inside me." She grasped at her head, staggering. "Aaah! My power is too great! I know this now, as I know it every time I come to this moment."  
  
"Illyria, if I'm here, if I am paradox, then this can all change, can't it? Things had been altered, what you said, what you did. You can change this outcome!"  
  
"Change is constant. Yet things remain the same." A glowing blue fracture appeared in Illyria's cheek. Her body started cracking apart, shooting out blue light everywhere. She exploded, sending Buffy back in the force of the explosion.  
  
When Buffy recovered, she found herself doubled-ever in pain, groaning in the hallway while Dawn, Angel, Wesley, and Spike walked with the weapon toward Illyria in the training room.  
  
"So what sort of damage are we lookin' at if Illyria Chernobyls on us?" Spike asked.  
  
"Conservative guess, several city blocks." Wesley said.  
  
"Buffy?" Angel asked, holding Buffy up.  
  
"Angel!" Buffy hugged him tightly. "You're alive! Guys.... Illyria, she's self-destructing. She's a time bomb."  
  
"Read today's paper, did ya?" Spike retorted.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We've been yapping about bloody nothing but that for the last 10 minutes."  
  
"No, no, no. I just watched you guys get killed. I attacked her and we phased through time. I don't think she actually meant to do it. She's overloading. She's gonna explode."  
  
"Yes, we know. Buffy, we've been over all this." Wesley said.  
  
"Do you even know how to use this thing?" Lorne asked, following them in the training room.  
  
"She's come unstuck in time, Wes! She knows what happens. She's seen it. She knows we want to kill her." Buffy said.  
  
"Yeah, she said that to me as well." Wesley said.  
  
Buffy realized what was going down. "Oh, guys.... this isn't good."  
  
"Well, that's funny. I didn't even see her leave." Lorne said.  
  
"Well, that's the problem. Don't always see her when she's...."  
  
"Spike!" Buffy rushed Spike to move him out of the way just as Illyria appeared. She grabbed Illyria's arm and spun her away. Illyria went to attack again, but Buffy held up her hand. "Illyria, wait. Please. Wes, put that thing down. Spike, nobody move."  
  
"This, too.... all changing." Illyria winced as she suffered another attack of pain and clutched her head. "Uh!"  
  
"I know what happens. I know you kill us all."  
  
"Oh, a bit pessimistic, aren't you?" Spike asked.  
  
"And then you shudder, and you convulse with pain, and then the power inside you explodes."  
  
"You were swept up in my wake." Illyria said to Buffy.  
  
"You're not a king anymore. Your domain is gone, swallowed by time."  
  
"And we've had this conversation."  
  
"You explode. I was there. It was powerful enough to blow me back through time. I have no idea what it does to the building."  
  
"More like the continental shelf, actually." Wesley said.  
  
"Buffy, what are you talking about?" Angel asked, concern etching his features.  
  
"I have to stop that. Do you understand? I cannot have your death blow away my...."  
  
"Your kingdom?!" Illyria shot.  
  
"Yeah, sure, whatever."  
  
"You ask me to allow you to murder me."  
  
"It's not murder if you say yes." Spike said.  
  
"Spike, shut up!" Buffy said.  
  
"No one is murdering you." Wesley said. "This device won't kill you."  
  
"What? You said...." Angel started.  
  
"I lied. Illyria, this device will draw the energy away from you safely. It will allow you to live."  
  
"Your intent is not murder." Illyria said.  
  
"It never was."  
  
"Well, no harm, no foul." Lorne said.  
  
"But you tried to destroy me to bring back Fred." Illyria said.  
  
"That didn't work. It was a failure. But now I know you're all that's left." Wesley said.  
  
"You want to take my power.... to let me live. But I am my power. And I would rather be a titanic crater than to be like unto you." Illyria kicked Wesley in the stomach, sending him flying across the room." Buffy kicked her in the face. "I kill you. That's how this ends." Illyria charged at Buffy, but she grabbed her and flung her away from her into a wall.  
  
"You want to fight me? I've destroyed a god before and I'll do it again." Buffy said. Spike charged at Illyria, but with a wave of her hand, she slowed time in the room. She stood to walk out, but the pain in her stomach happened again, causing her to double over in pain, losing her focus and restoring the speed of time in the room. Spike landed against the wall, but got to his feet. "Illyria, the future can change here. You can choose a different path."  
  
"And be nothing."  
  
"And be what you are. Fighting to hold on to what you were.... it's destroying you."  
  
"You would do this to me." Illyria said to Wesley.  
  
"I'd try anyway. Every time." Wesley said.  
  
"I possess so much grace, more grace than this bag of sticks could express. I was the immaculate embodiment of rule." A glowing blue fracture appeared in Illyria's cheek and her body started cracking apart, shooting out blue light everywhere. "I blame this on the weakness of your species."  
  
"Fair enough." Wesley aimed the weapon at Illyria, pulling the trigger. The weapon shot out a beam of light, hitting Illyria in her stomach. It drew the blue light energy from her into the weapon. Spike watched in shock. Lorne grimaced, pained, as he stepped away from the ordeal. Angel watched Buffy intently as she watched Illyria's power be stripped away. Dawn looked from Buffy to Illyria to Wesley and back, confused at what had just happened. Wesley continued using the weapon on Illyria until all the fractures in her body re-sealed themselves. When he turned off the weapon, Illyria collapsed to the floor, convulsing for a moment. "Illyria...."  
  
"Touch me and die, vermin." Illyria said.  
  
"Not a very dramatic difference, really." Spike said.  
  
"Everything is different." Wesley said.  
  
Buffy looked at Wesley as she held Angel's hand tightly. They were standing in the observation room watching Illyria stilled curled in a ball on the floor of the training room. "So what's the prognosis?"  
  
"She won't be stopping time.... or walking through dimensions. And I suspect her physical strength has decreased somewhat." Wesley said.  
  
"That's what I wanted to hear."  
  
"You're gonna stay with her, aren't you?" Angel asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Wes.... I don't like where this is going. I don't like where this has been."  
  
"I'm not in love with this thing, Angel. But.... for some reason, I need it right now."  
  
"Yeah. That's just weird." Buffy said. She and Angel started to leave.  
  
"She could still prove to be problematic for us. Much of what she was is still intact. I doubt she'll ever stop trying to conquer.... everything." Wesley said.  
  
"Serve no master but your ambition."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"You were right before.... about Illyria being a resource. She just might make the team yet." Buffy looked at Angel and he just looked away.  
  
As they walked back into the lobby towards their office, Buffy and Angel were stopped by the yelling demons, Gunn, and Hamilton. "Yes, well, that would be more.... Buffy and Angel's business than mine." Hamilton said.  
  
"She won't make it through another day." The lead demon said to Gunn.  
  
"You think we can't protect her?!" Gunn yelled back.  
  
"The Fell are everywhere. We are a force of nature."  
  
"Gunn. The baby belongs to the Fell." Angel said.  
  
"What? She hasn't signed anything. There's nothing on paper." Gunn said.  
  
"Gentlemen." Angel walked into the conference room, followed by the demon brethren.  
  
"What are you doing?" Buffy asked.  
  
"What we're supposed to. Serve our clients." With that, Angel closed the door behind him.  
  
Buffy glared at Hamilton and then looked back at Gunn. "If you need me, I'll be packing my bags."  
  
"Where're you going?"  
  
"To Italy. I'm going to stay with Faith for a while."  
  
"Does Angel know?"  
  
"He'll find out when I'm not home and there's a note on the bed." With that, Buffy turned and headed to the elevators.  
  
"Buffy." The Slayer turned. "Are you ok?"  
  
"I'm tired of playing second fiddle to this place. I need a vacation. I'll send the number to you, Wesley, Spike, and Dawn. Don't tell Angel."  
  
"You're not getting a divorce, are you?"  
  
"If I am, you'll probably be the first to know." With that, the doors of the elevator closed. 


	38. The Girl in Question p1

Chapter 38  
  
Buffy stood in the bathroom getting ready to go out. She had been in Italy for more than three days now staying with Faith and, just for the moment, Andrew. "Yo B, phone for ya." Faith called.  
  
Buffy poked her head out of the bathroom. "Who is it?"  
  
"It's not Angel."  
  
"For once."  
  
"It's Gunn. He says it's urgent."  
  
Buffy took the phone. "What's wrong? Is Dawn ok?"  
  
"She's fine, but you won't be." Gunn said.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Angel's on his way there. Spike's with him."  
  
"Oh no. Why is he...."  
  
"Two reasons. One: He knows you're going out with the Immortal and he's not too happy and two: He has to get the body of Capo di Famiglia of the Goran demon clan and get it back to the States or it's war here."  
  
"Gunn, I'm not dating the Immortal. He's just a friend of Faith's that's been really sweet to me."  
  
"Apparently, the Immortal, Spike, and Angel go way back. And it's not a good back."  
  
"If Angel doesn't like it, too bad. He's not my boss."  
  
"Buffy.... Don't be too harsh on him if you see him. He misses you. A lot."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"All he does is sit in his office and call Faith's casa since he found out that's where you're staying."  
  
"I noticed that."  
  
"When he's not calling, he's brooding and barking at everyone that disturbs him."  
  
Buffy felt awful that she was doing this to her husband, her Angel, but she really needed a break from everything.... Including him. "I miss him too, Gunn."  
  
"Then come home with him."  
  
"Only if he apologizes for being a royal dick and promises that Wolfram and Hart will always take a backseat to us from here on out."  
  
"You'll have to tell him that. I've stalled him as best I could, but this thing couldn't be avoided. He'll be there in less than an hour."  
  
"Well, I won't be. Faith and I're going out tonight."  
  
"You know Angel's been having you followed."  
  
"I know. I saw the guy."  
  
"So I heard. You put him in the hospital."  
  
"Well, I don't like being followed."  
  
"Listen, I gotta run. I'll talk to you later."  
  
"Ok. Bye Gunn." Buffy hung up.  
  
Faith looked up from lacing her boots. "So what's up?"  
  
"Angel's on his way here."  
  
"I'm surprised he hasn't shown up before this."  
  
"Me too. Part of it's got to do with Gunn doing his best to keep Angel there."  
  
"And the other part?"  
  
"I think he's scared."  
  
"Hell, I would be too. Pissed off Slayer as powerful as you are mad at him? I wouldn't mess with ya till ya cooled down."  
  
"Good to know I still strike fear in the hearts of demons. Even if it is Angel."  
  
"You've been out of the game a while. No big there."  
  
"It is big. I'm really sorry for what I put you guys through. I hate losing your guys' trust."  
  
"Eh, I always figured you knew what you were getting yourself into. You always do."  
  
"I didn't this time. Wolfram and Hart.... It's the wrong side of the tracks. I thought that I could do good through the big bad beastie law firm, but it seems like all it does is bad things. Even Dawn's changed." Buffy snorted and headed back to the bathroom. "It's ruined mine and Angel's perfect relationship."  
  
"A Vampire Slayer and a vampire? It was never perfect." Faith stood and followed Buffy. "Besides, who wants a perfect relationship when you can have a gut wrenching, soul tearing, heart churning, over the top, passionate love affair that just happens to last forever." Faith smacked her lips together to fix her lip gloss and then looked at Buffy through the mirror. "B, you guys have made it through thick and thin. This is just a little bit of the thick to add to the Buffy/Angel saga we all know and pray for."  
  
"I hope this thick isn't too impenetrable. I don't know what I'd do if I lost Angel."  
  
"You just go back in time and save him."  
  
"Illyria can't do that anymore. We stripped her powers. I told you that."  
  
"I know. But you'd still find a way."  
  
"Excuse me ladies." Andrew said, squeezing into the bathroom and setting up for a shower. "Don't mean to interrupt."  
  
"No problem. We're leaving now anyway."  
  
"Have fun on your date, Andrew." Buffy said. The little twerp wasn't as annoying as she remembered. He had actually grown up and was, surprise, a Watcher in training.  
  
"You too." Andrew called. "You look great."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Come on, B. Let's get going." Faith handed Buffy her coat and held open the door.  
  
"I just hope you didn't blow it, mate." Spike said to Angel. They were on the company jet flying to Rome for two reasons. One was to get Buffy back and the other seemed more of a backseat kinda deal.  
  
"I think I did, Spike." Angel said through his hands. He had his face buried in them and every now and then he would rub his face and push his fingers through his already disheveled hair before bringing his hands to rest there again.  
  
"Nah. What are we thinking? It's Buffy. She loves your wank self and no one can touch that. Not even that ponce the Immortal."  
  
"What is SHE thinking?" This time Angel came out of his hands and looked over at Spike. "I mean, come on, the Immortal!? Him over me?"  
  
"Darla did the same thing."  
  
"So did Drusilla."  
  
"Hey. Leave her alone. She was easily confused."  
  
"And Faith's that way too?" Angel blinked. "Wait, it is Darla and Dru all over again."  
  
"I highly doubt Buffy's cheating on you. She's not the type." Angel stared at Spike. "What? She is the type?" Angel just looked away. "When!?"  
  
"When she was with Riley.... I went to visit her just after she called and told me her mother was sick. We wound up in bed, but nothing else happened. We stopped ourselves before...."  
  
"Well that's irrelevant."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Riley was rebound guy for her. She didn't love him. And he was one poor substitute for you."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah. And if you tell anyone I said that.... I'll nail you to a roof and take back that ring." Spike sighed. "No one's ever swept her off her feet like you have. I was there when you weren't and I saw what she went through over you. Not one bloody person has ever come close to you. Not even me."  
  
"Well, of course not even you."  
  
"You know.... Don't make me take back all that stuff before."  
  
After a long pause, Angel looked at the blonde haired vampire. "Spike?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"You sure she's not sleeping with the Immortal?"  
  
"You know what? The Immortal's probably put some nasty spell on her. And, hey, how did you know she was in trouble?"  
  
"I got word."  
  
"From who?"  
  
"A source."  
  
"You've been spying on her?!"  
  
"I just wanted to make sure she was all right."  
  
"Well, it's your fault she's gone."  
  
"I know."  
  
Spike looked over at him. "And sending your lackeys to do your stalking for you? That is really pathetic."  
  
"All right, fine. I'm not proud of it, but it's.... it's Buffy."  
  
"How many you got on her?"  
  
"Uh, just the one. But he got spotted. Called me from the hospital after he regained consciousness."  
  
"You should've had more of your people watching her."  
  
"Yeah. We'll be landing soon. Remember the last time we were in Italy?"  
  
"Like it was yesterday." Spike drifted off into memories as he retold Angel about Italy.  
  
"Wait a minute. I wasn't in Italy in the fifties."  
  
"Oh, right. Guess you weren't. Really missed out."  
  
"Guess so. Sounds a lot better than when I remember it.... Before mine and Buffy's honeymoon."  
  
"1894?"  
  
"The room of pain." Angel sighed.  
  
"Let me handle this." Angel said to Spike, standing in front of Faith's door.  
  
"You should let me. She hangs up when it's you!"  
  
"But what about Faith?"  
  
"She knows I'm back."  
  
"You talked to her?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"When?"  
  
"A while back. Buffy told her cause I wouldn't."  
  
When the door opened, Andrew was the one who answered it. He was wearing a robe over a t-shirt and his hair was disheveled. "Spike! O mio dio!" He hugged Spike tightly. "E come un sogno incantevole. What are you doing here?"  
  
"About to ask you the same question, Andrew." Angel said.  
  
"Faith's letting me crash. My casa was incinerated when that thing happened."  
  
"What thing?" Spike asked.  
  
"Cultural misunderstanding. Let us speak of more pleasant times. Entrate pure. I part my threshold. I mean, my apartment. Obviously." Angel and Spike entered the apartment at the same time, getting stuck in the doorway. Angel wriggled free and entered first. "So, um, I had plans later this evening, but I can change them if you guys wanna hang. Uh, I could show you Rome at night, a city of contrasts. Anywhere you want to go, anything you want to see."  
  
"Buffy." Angel said.  
  
"Right, because you...." Andrew nodded and crossed his arms. "Yeah. She's not here."  
  
"Where'd she go?"  
  
"She told me not to tell you."  
  
"She knows I'm here?!"  
  
"Uh.... Yeah."  
  
"How'd she find out?"  
  
"A friend."  
  
Angel glared at Spike. "Don't look at me!" Spike said.  
  
"I can't tell you because she promised to rip out my tongue if I did."  
  
"Andrew," Angel stepped closer. "What do you think I'm gonna do to you?"  
  
"She went out to meet the Immortal."  
  
"When did she leave?"  
  
"Just missed her."  
  
"Then we're not too late." Spike said.  
  
"Of course, it could be worse." Angel said.  
  
"You're telling me. The last few nights they never leave the house, just curl up on the couch and snuggle."  
  
Angel's eyes widened. "There's snuggling?"  
  
"For starters. But he'd Faith's boyfriend. The Immortal has just been comforting Buffy while she cries."  
  
"Buffy's been crying?"  
  
Andrew looked around as if he was making sure the place didn't have wire taps and then settled on Angel. "She misses you something terrible. Every night she's been here, she's cried herself to sleep. She tries to play it off, but everyone can see right through it. You hurt her pretty bad Angel."  
  
While Angel sat down, looking like he was going into major brood mode, Spike turned on Andrew. "Faith's dating the Immortal?"  
  
"Yeah. Has been for a while."  
  
"It's worse."  
  
Buffy looked around the club at all the laughing, smiling people. It seemed like there were a lot of couples there that night. She was sitting at the bar staring at the drink she had before her. She didn't know what she had ordered. It was colorful, though. Ever since they had got to the club, Buffy had been sitting at the bar thinking about where Angel was at the moment.  
  
"B, this moping thing...." Faith said behind her. "It's tired."  
  
Buffy looked at Faith. "I'm sorry I'm being such a party poop."  
  
"You wanna go home?"  
  
"Nah. I'll be fine."  
  
"Come dance with us."  
  
"You guys are having fun. I don't want to intrude."  
  
"You're not. He wants you to come have fun." Faith pointed to where the Immortal was waving them over. "See?"  
  
Buffy sighed. "Yeah. I guess I could for a little bit."  
  
"Angel can wait. You need to have fun."  
  
"It's over. Just like that." Spike said miserably. "Not that I thought I had a chance anyway."  
  
"It's not the end of the world." Angel said to Spike.  
  
"Still. The Immortal?! I mean, come on! She's smarter than that. She'd never fall for a centuries-old guy with a dark past who may or may not be evil. She's under some kind of spell."  
  
"I was just thinking that."  
  
"We're gonna pick up the Capo's body...."  
  
"Find the Immortal, and break his whammy."  
  
A female demon walked into the room carrying a bowling ball bag. "Grazie, Signor Angelo. We are in your debt for attending to a delicate matter. Grazie, grazie."  
  
"Um, this is the, uh, Capo di Famiglia of the Goran demon clan?" Angel asked.  
  
"Si, si. The Capo di Famiglia."  
  
"Must've been a wee fella." Spike said.  
  
Angel looked in the bag. "This is just his head."  
  
"Si, si. The Capo di Famiglia." The maid said.  
  
"What happened to the rest of him?" Spike asked.  
  
"When a Goran demon becomes heavy with the age, his head-a sag and drop off like a ripe-a fig. Heh."  
  
"So his new body just hatches out of it?" Angel asked.  
  
"If the rituals are performed by the family in time. You must-a get the head of the Capo to Los Angeles subito. Eh? Si?"  
  
"Si. Subito." Angel grabbed the bag in a hurry, and he and Spike rushed out.  
  
They ended up at Faith's place again where Andrew answered the door holding the cordless phone to his shoulder and wearing a pore-cleansing strip on his nose. "Is Buffy home yet?"  
  
"You guys, it's only 8:30." Andrew said.  
  
"Right."  
  
"Yeah." Spike said.  
  
"Do you know where they went?"  
  
"She's gonna rip out my tongue!"  
  
"Andrew...."  
  
At the night club where Andrew said Buffy had gone, dance music played loudly as Spike and Angel made their way through the crowd toward the bar. "Dancing. Why'd it have to be dancing?" Angel asked.  
  
Spike looked at the bartender. "You speak English, luv?"  
  
"Si, si. I love the English." The bartender said.  
  
"We'll get along fine, then."  
  
"We're looking for a couple of girls." Angel said. "Both American. One with blond hair and blue eyes. The other one with dark hair and brown eyes."  
  
"Many blond and dark American coeducationals. Spring break? The girls, they go wild." The bartender said.  
  
"No, no. We-we're looking for friends of ours."  
  
"She's in trouble. This ponce called The Immortal is...." Spike said.  
  
"Ah, si. Si. The Immortal's new ragazza. They come, while ago." The bartender gestured at the crowd. "There." Angel and Spike turned to look at Buffy and Faith dancing in the middle of the crowd. "Your friends maybe go a little wild, too, si?"  
  
"Right. Hold down the fort. I'll be right back." Spike started to head off.  
  
"Huh? Oh, yeah, here it comes. The part where you run off alone and play the big hero so Faith'll take you back. Well, newsflash, blondie bear: Never gonna happen."  
  
"Look! I know I don't have a shot with her, all right? Probably never did, but I still care about her, and I'm not gonna let her end up with a jerk like the Immortal."  
  
"Spike."  
  
"What?"  
  
"The head."  
  
"I thought you had it." They looked back at the bar to see the butler from the house where they picked up the head carrying the bag away. "Hey!" They chased the butler and Spike put his hand on the butler's shoulder. "Where you think you're going with our head, Jeeves?"  
  
"Anywhere he wants." A voice said behind the vampires. Angel and Spike turned to see several large, bulky muscle-men standing behind them.  
  
"Don't suppose we can talk about this over a nice amaretto?" Angel asked.  
  
One of the men punched Angel. Another man punched Angel, and he staggered back. Spike jumped the man, knocking him down. Angel engaged another man, punching him, while Spike kicked the man he tackled before. They continued to fight, exchanging punches. Angel grabbed the man he was fighting and threw him headfirst into the wall. Spike punched his man in the face, shattering a display at the bar. Angel walked toward Spike, but Spike punched him in the face. When Spike stood and looked at whom he punched, he realized it was Angel. Angel looked at Spike, rubbing his jaw, then got an angry look on his face before returning Spike's punch. Spike looked angrily at Angel, and they both reared back to swing, punching each other in the face.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" Angel asked.  
  
"I was confused, ya git! It's very loud in here." Spike yelled back.  
  
"Where'd the little guy go?" Angel and Spike looked around and found a very angry looking Buffy standing there, arms crossed and staring angrily at both of them. "Buffy...."  
  
"What the hell is going on here?" Buffy asked.  
  
Spike saw the butler walking out the door with their head. The butler saw them and gestured with his fingertips off of his chin before exiting the club. "Angel...." Spike pointed.  
  
"He's getting away!" Angel said. "Buffy.... Please.... Don't leave." Spike and Angel rushed after him.  
  
Buffy stared after them and then threw her hands up. "I'm gonna regret this." She followed the men out. When she got outside, they were riding off on a motor scooter. Instead of grabbing one herself, Buffy threw some money at a guy and took his motorcycle. Crotch rocket. She thought that's what they called these kinds of motorcycles. She revved the engine and took off, thanking Pike for showing her how to drive one of these things. Following the sounds of the motor scooter and Spike and Angel's complaining, Buffy raced after them. She found them standing in the middle of the street, their motor scooter wrecked. With a screech, she pulled to a stop next to them.  
  
"Buffy?" Angel asked.  
  
"Nice!" Spike said. "Where'd you get this?"  
  
"I stole it." Buffy said. "What the hell is going on?"  
  
"Where'd you learn to ride one?" Angel asked.  
  
"Pike." Buffy closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. With a sigh, she opened them back up and stared at Angel. "I'm going to ask this one more time and if I don't get a straight answer, I'm getting back on that thing and leaving. What is going on here?"  
  
"We only have 12 hours to get that head back before Los Angeles becomes a demon war zone." Spike said. "Should we argue some more, or should we get on with it?"  
  
"Ah, all right." Angel said. He looked at Buffy. "No more screwing around. We find that guy, we get the head back, and then we get the hell outta here.... All three of us." He sighed. "If we had our resources, if we had our team, if we had our helicopters or...."  
  
"Wolfram & Hart has an office here in Rome." Buffy piped up. Angel and Spike looked at her. 


	39. The Girl in Question p2

Chapter 39  
  
The elevator bell dinged and Buffy, Angel, and Spike stepped off the elevator into a lobby that looked identical to the L.A. branch's lobby. The office was busy even at night. It was full of people chatting away in Italian. A woman walked through the lobby toward them. She was wearing a low-cut, tight, slinky sundress.  
  
"Ciao! Benvenuti! Welcome! Ah, Spike." She kissed Spike on both cheeks. "Ha ha ha. Oh! You are the very meaning of handsome. You take my breath away. Ah, I have no breath. Ha ha ha!" She went to kiss Angel on both cheeks, but Buffy intervened.  
  
"I don't need any more problems with him." Buffy said.  
  
"Si. Si. And you two, what an honor. The great Angelus and his beautiful wife Buffy the Vampire Slayer. What a handsome couple you make, si?"  
  
"Actually, it's just Angel." Angel said.  
  
"Ah, yes, of course. The gypsies, they gave you your soul. The gypsies are filthy people!" The woman spit. "And we shall speak of them no more. I am Ilona Costa Bianchi. I'm the CEO of the Roman offices of Wolfram and Hart. And please, we are at your disposal. Whatever it is that you want, we give to you. If you want the world, we give you the world. We give you 2 worlds, in fact, because this is our way."  
  
"Ok."  
  
"Good. Yeah." Spike said.  
  
"Now, let's go in my office, and we talk like adults, eh? Come." Ilona turned toward her office. "Pietro."  
  
"Si, signora." The man at the reception desk said.  
  
Ilona said something to the man in Italian and Spike leaned over to Angel. "She seems nice."  
  
Ilona's office is where Angel's would be, but it was decorated very differently. There were lots of paintings of religious and secular material that appeared to have been created by masters of the Italian renaissance and baroque periods. Pietro lighted a cigarette for Ilona, and she smoked it through a long detachable filter. "Please, make yourselves as though you were at home. Your problems, they are no more. You have no more problems. What are your problems?"  
  
Angel glanced at Buffy and then back at Ilona. "Our friend, she's under some sort of spell...."  
  
"Cast by the vilest wretch this side of Mount Everest." Spike said. "Which.... I'm told he has climbed.... several times."  
  
"Look, he goes by the name of the Immortal." Angel noticed Buffy squinch her face up in confusion and mouth 'the Immortal' to herself.  
  
"Ah, the Immortal." Ilona said. "Ah. Then your friend is lucky. Ha ha. I have had dealings with The Immortal many times, and I must say that the outcome is always.... most satisfactory."  
  
"He's got her trapped." Spike said.  
  
"It's a love spell, and we...." Angel said.  
  
"It's doubtful. The Immortal doesn't use spells. He considers them dirty. Dirty tricks for dirty people. Like gypsies." Ilona spit. "We will speak of them no more."  
  
"Well, he's done something magic to her." Spike said.  
  
"No he hasn't." Buffy said.  
  
"Yes he has."  
  
"No, he hasn't."  
  
"Yes.... he has."  
  
"I know him and he hasn't done anything to Faith."  
  
"That you know of." Angel said. "We need to do some research. Look, don't you guys have, like, an Italian Wesley here?"  
  
"Yes. Yes, we have, but he's taking a nap. And I do not need him to tell me what is already widely known, that the Immortal does not use magic."  
  
"Then it must be somethin' else." Spike said.  
  
"Look, we need to know everything there is to know about him. We need...."  
  
"To keep your head." Ilona said. "Ha ha! Yes. We know all about your mission to retrieve the Capo di Famiglia. And I have to say, right now it seems a bit more important than trying to pry your friend off of the Immortal. Your head is in great danger. We have already received a ransom note. It was addressed to you via our offices. I took the liberty of sneaking a peek." She handed the paper to Angel, who seemed annoyed. "We must hurry because the drop is about to take place in less than one hour."  
  
"All right. We're gonna need a chase helicopter, assault team...." Angel started.  
  
"And guns. Lots and lots of guns." Spike added.  
  
"No, no, no, no! No, no." Ilona squeezed the boys' cheeks. "The two of you are so precious. But no! This is a civilized country. We do these things all the time. Somebody gets kidnapped, somebody pays the money. Everybody goes home happy. Grazie. Prego. Kiss-kiss. We already have the money ready to go." She gestured to Pietro, who opened a briefcase full of Euros. "Eh. Huh?"  
  
"All right. Fine. Whatever." Angel said. "We'll do it your way."  
  
"Who's making the drop?" Spike asked.  
  
"You are." Ilona said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yes. You want the head, you must get the head."  
  
"But...."  
  
"We'll do it." Buffy grabbed the briefcase and walked out.  
  
"She is a fiery thing, si?" Ilona said.  
  
"Si." Angel said, following Buffy.  
  
Buffy sat on the fountain watching Angel and Spike banter back and forth. "I helped save the world, you know." Angel said.  
  
"Like I haven't." Spike retorted.  
  
"Yeah, but I've done it a lot more."  
  
"Oh please."  
  
"I closed the Hellmouth."  
  
"I've done that."  
  
"Yeah, you wore a necklace. You know, I helped kill the mayor and, uh, and Jasmine and...."  
  
"Do those really count as savin' the world?"  
  
"I stopped Acathla. That saved the world."  
  
"Buffy ran you through with a sword."  
  
"Yeah, but I made her do it. I signaled her with my eyes."  
  
"She killed you. I helped her! That one counts as mine."  
  
"Would you two just shut the hell up?!" Buffy said. They turned to look at her. "This is one of the reasons I came here. I can't stand the two of you bickering constantly over every little thing. I oughta just throw you two in a room and see who gets dusted first."  
  
"Buffy...." Angel moved towards her, but she held up her hand.  
  
"I don't even want to talk to you." Buffy stood and got in Angel's face. "You order me around, you have me followed, then you come all the way to Italy to follow me yourself because your monkeys aren't capable of doing it themselves, and on top of all that you drag me in on this stupid little mission."  
  
"I didn't drag you in on this."  
  
"Inadvertently, you did. You show up, start a fight in the bar that you know I'm at, then just take off without giving me so much as a second glance, I have to save you two from walking, and then you're both big ol' babies and won't make a simple little drop."  
  
"But...."  
  
"When this is all over, you and me are going to find a secluded spot and we're just going to duke it out. I'm tired of suppressing my feelings because you're too busy with everything else."  
  
"You've been cuddling with the Immortal."  
  
"And?"  
  
"You're my wife! Till death do us part and then some. Don't you remember that, or did he put a whammy on you too?"  
  
"There is no whammy on either me or Faith! Faith's dating him because he's a nice guy."  
  
"What about the cuddling?"  
  
"Perhaps she likes the cut of his trousers." The Butler said behind them. "Your wife and your girlfriend have become lovers with the Immortal. How unfortunate for you both. And how fortunate for them."  
  
"You know the Immortal?" Angel asked.  
  
"But of course."  
  
"Ha! I knew it. None of this is a coincidence."  
  
"Been his plan all along. Steal our head, keep us busy, and traipse off with our girls." Spike said.  
  
"It's a setup. You're just his lackey."  
  
"I should be so lucky. The Immortal does not need men like me to do his business. He is a wild card, a wolf removed from the pack, a stallion without, uh, the bridle."  
  
"What, are you in love with him?" Buffy asked.  
  
"No, no, no, no. Well, ok, yes. But if anything, he's more of a, uh, inspiration, a spiritual guide. Have you read his book? It's a life changer."  
  
"I'm gettin' a little tired of Italy." Angel said.  
  
"Know what you mean." Spike said. With that, the vampires attacked. Buffy was forced to join the fight to keep them from losing their heads and the head they were supposed to be holding on to.  
  
"Oh, look. The Americans are relying on violence to solve their problems. What a surprise." The demon threw the bag into the air. "Woo!" Angel tried to keep his eye on the bag, but another man caught it and swung the bag at Angel, hitting him in the face. The men kept playing a massive game of keep away with the bag, throwing it through the air to someone else anytime Angel or Spike get close to it. Finally, the demon butler caught the bag. "Ok. No more games!" He pulled out a gun and aimed it at the bag. Everyone stopped fighting, but then Angel elbowed a man behind him, getting in one final blow. "One more step, and the head gets it, hey? We are not animals. We are Italiano. You give us the money, we give you the head. You give us the money, we give you the head. The money, the head. The money...."  
  
"Yeah. We get it." Angel hit Spike. "Money."  
  
Spike got the money and walked toward the demon. He held out the money, but pulled it back. "Hey." They switched bags at the same time. Buffy shook her head and walked a little ways away.  
  
"Arrivederci, Americanos. It was a pleasure to do the business with you." The demon and his men left.  
  
"Don't believe him for a second. The Immortal's neck-deep in all of this." Spike said.  
  
"Course he is." Angel said. "He's screwin' us. He's screwed us before, and he's screwin' us now."  
  
"He's not screwing either of you. He doesn't care about you enough." Buffy said.  
  
"Yeah, but every time we hear his bleeding name, we end up standin' in the strada holdin' the bag." Spike unzipped the bag to look inside, and instead of the head, a ticking bomb was inside, counting down in seconds from 0:05. He dropped the bag. "Run!" They hadn't gotten very far before the bag blew, sending the three of them flying.  
  
Buffy crashed through a brick wall and landed hard a chunk of the debris, her arm pinned beneath her. When she came around, Angel was helping her up. She cried out in pain as he pulled on her right arm. "No!" Without hesitating, Angel scooped her up into his arms. "I think I broke it." She whimpered.  
  
"Come on, we'll go back to Wolfram and Hart." Angel said. "I've got you." Buffy looked at her husband's concerned eyes and then laid her head on his shoulder.  
  
"Civilized country? Look what that squeaker did to my jacket." Spike said, walking up to them.  
  
"After everything we've been through, you're pissed about a jacket."  
  
"No, not a jacket. My jacket. You have no idea what I went through to get this."  
  
"You stripped it off a body of a dead Slayer." Buffy said.  
  
"Well, which gives it great sentimental value. Besides, I've been wearin' it for over 30 years. It's like a part of me."  
  
"Get over it. Buy a new one." Angel said.  
  
"It's my second skin. It's who I am. It's just one more thing he's taken away that I'll never get back."  
  
Angel walked into Ilona's office wearing a waist-length white, red, and black leather motorcycle jacket. "You! Guarda! Come sei bello! Sei bellissimo! Bellissimo! You look gorgeous! Oh!" Ilona said.  
  
"You know, I'm not sure this is me." Angel said.  
  
"No, no, no, no, no. This is the latest style. You will define handsome for years to come. Ha ha ha!"  
  
"Where's Buffy?"  
  
"Right here." Angel turned to find Buffy in black leather pants and a long sleeved, white boat neck shirt. Her right arm was in a sling.  
  
"Are you ok?"  
  
"Getting there."  
  
"Now that you've had a happy reunion.... What happened to the drop?" Ilona asked. "No grazie, prego, kiss-kiss?"  
  
"Grazie, prego, ka-boom." Angel siad.  
  
"Ohh! Oh, they always do this to first-timers in this country. Did I not mention that?"  
  
"That's it. Call up the helicopters."  
  
"And the assault team." Spike said.  
  
"We're gettin' our head back."  
  
"No, no, no. I love the three of you so much, but brute force will only get your precious head smooshed. You have done such fine quality work." Ilona escorted them to the door. "Now, please, relax. Let us handle it from here. Sometimes you have to put your fate in a higher power."  
  
"We're heroes. We don't need any higher power."  
  
"I'll be in touch." Ilona closed the doors to her office.  
  
"We make our own fate." The doors clicked shut. "We don't need anybody cleaning up our mess. You know, we're champions!" Spike pounded on the door and Angel tried to open it, but it was locked. "Got this under control." He pounded on the door. "You know, we're just gonna.... We're...." Angel leaned against the door and sighed. He looked at Buffy watching them with an amused look on her face. "Should we just go home?"  
  
"God, yes." Buffy said.  
  
"Couldn't get me out of this rat hole of a country fast enough." Spike said.  
  
At Faith's casa, Buffy was packing her things. Andrew was long gone and Buffy had called to let Faith know she was going home. "Could it be mind control?" Spike asked. "Or a love potion? Did she drink a love potion?"  
  
"Spike, I thought of all those things, but Faith fell for the Immortal on her own, and she's happy." Buffy said, looking at Spike. He looked highly depressed. "The Immortal's nice, but he's not the greatest thing in the world. He's got flaws."  
  
"Really? Wh-what are they?"  
  
Buffy sat down next to Spike and laid her good hand on his shoulder. "The point is, Spike, she's moving on. You need to do the same, and you might catch her one day. You keep running in place, you're gonna find she's long gone."  
  
"It is a bit silly. Me.... chasin' her around like a henpecked teenager."  
  
"Faith loves you, but she's gotta live her life. People change."  
  
"Well, maybe it's time we get outta here." Angel said, picking up Buffy's suitcases.  
  
"I totally agree." Buffy said.  
  
"Gunn." Angel said as he, Buffy, and Spike got off the elevator back in LA. "We lost the head. Start preparing the troops for war."  
  
"Head's in your office." Gunn said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's on your desk." Gunn smiled at Buffy. "Nice to see you back." With that, he walked off.  
  
Buffy walked into the office to see the guys staring at the bowling ball bag containing the head. It was sitting on Angel's desk with a little folded note tied to it with a ribbon. Angel and Spike walked up to it and Angel pulled the note out of its envelope and read it.  
  
"'With regards, The Immortal.'" Angel angrily ripped the note into tiny shreds. "You know, I really hate that guy!"  
  
Spike looked at Buffy. "Can't we just.... lock her away in a box where no one can ever touch her? You know? Like we did with Pavayne?"  
  
"I don't think she'd let you. She's pretty strong." Buffy said.  
  
"We could do a spell. Some sort of mind control."  
  
"She'd figure it out. She's smarter than she looks."  
  
"Yeah. So, what? I just have to live with it? Get on with my life?"  
  
"Fraid so."  
  
"Fine." Spike sniffled. "No problem. I was plannin' on doin' that anyway."  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"Actually, I'm doin' it right now. As we speak, I'm movin' on."  
  
"Right." Buffy kissed Spike's cheek. "And you're doing a great job of it." She looked at Angel. "So, do you want to go up to the penthouse and talk?"  
  
"I think we need to." Angel said.  
  
"Right." Buffy looked at Spike. "Tell Harmony no one disturbs us until we say it's ok."  
  
"Will do." Spike nodded. Angel held the elevator door open and Buffy stepped on. Spike figured it wouldn't take too long for them to work things out. He wouldn't be surprised if Angel had some bruises though. 


	40. Power Play p1

Chapter 40  
  
Buffy sighed and collapsed on top of Angel. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her sweat matted hair. "Where did you learn to do that?" He asked.  
  
"I read Cosmo." Buffy retorted, nipping at Angel's chest.  
  
"I'll have to write them a letter because for the last.... very long moment I haven't had a single coherent thought."  
  
"We need to do this more often. Cause I really missed it."  
  
"Me too."  
  
Buffy looked up. "Uh oh..... The brow is back."  
  
"Oh, there's.... there's a lot more than usual going on."  
  
"Not work again."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
Buffy rolled off Angel and curled up at his side. "We should get away. Vacation? You know that word, right?"  
  
"You just got back from vacation."  
  
"I know, but I want to go to Cabo, drink margaritas, midnight skinny- dipping, you and me making love on the beach."  
  
"It would be wonderful."  
  
"But...."  
  
"There are...." Angel sighed. "There are things that I have to do. Things that I've already set in motion that, uh...." He sat up. "I know I've spent years fighting to get somewhere.... to accomplish something.... and now that I'm close to it.... I don't like what I see, what I am."  
  
"You're a hero. My champion."  
  
"Oh, that word."  
  
"What? You are my champion."  
  
"I may not always be."  
  
"Don't be silly." Buffy slid up Angel and straddled him again.  
  
Buffy watched Angel the rest of the day. They had a meeting with some big Senator in a few minutes and she figured that the meeting was what bothered him. It worried her that Angel was acting this way. The Slayer glanced at Gunn who was walking on her other side as they walked up to Hamilton.  
  
"Ah! There's the man himself. Angel, I'd like you to meet Senator Brucker." Hamilton said.  
  
"Senator, welcome to Wolfram & Hart." Angel said, shaking her hand.  
  
Buffy glanced at Angel and then at the Senator. "And I'm his wife and co- C.E.O. of this company."  
  
"Oh, I go way back with this firm, back when Holland Manners was in charge." The Senator said.  
  
"I think you'll find things have changed a bit since then. Charles Gunn." He shook her hand.  
  
"Head of our legal department." Hamilton said.  
  
"Oh. And this is Ernesto. My personal...." The Senator started.  
  
"Vampire." Angel said.  
  
"Aide. I always forget your kind can sense each other. Well, I believe in diversity on my staff. It was a big part of my campaign."  
  
"How commendable." Buffy said sarcastically.  
  
"Harmony, you mind getting us some coffee?" Angel asked.  
  
"Coming right up." Harmony chirped.  
  
"Oh, thank you, no. No coffee" The Senator said. "But if it isn't any trouble, I think Ernesto might like some blood."  
  
"Virgin, if you have it. Room temperature's fine." Ernesto piped up.  
  
"We have a no human blood policy." Buffy said. "Sorry." Ernesto glared at her, but Buffy ignored it.  
  
"Oh, I think we could make an exception to our policy this time for the senator. Couldn't we, Angel?" Hamilton asked.  
  
"Harmony, the lab might have something in the blood bank. Why don't you go check it out?" Angel said.  
  
"Angel...." Buffy started.  
  
"Not now, honey."  
  
"Ok." Harmony said. "You're the boss, boss. Could I maybe just have a teeny, weeny...."  
  
"No."  
  
"Just thought I'd ask."  
  
"Well, senator, if there's anything you need, please call on me." Hamilton said. "Rest assured. You're in good hands." He left.  
  
Angel looked at the Senator. "Shall we?"  
  
The senator and Ernesto walked with Angel toward his office when Wesley came up to Angel carrying a file folder. "Buffy, Angel. There's been another fatality in Funville."  
  
"What?"  
  
"That abandoned amusement park downtown? Third victim in as many nights. Teeth marks strongly indicate a Boretz demon."  
  
Illyria and Spike were in the lobby now and walked up to Wesley, Buffy, and Angel. "Oh, bloody Boretz. Nasty buggers. Stink to high heaven. Dress as transients to prey on the homeless, poor sods." Spike said.  
  
"This last victim was a teenage girl. A runaway. She was ripped apart."  
  
"Well, there's not much we can do about it now, huh?" Angel said.  
  
"That's a little heartless." Buffy said. "Angel, we need to find this demon and destroy it before...."  
  
"Somebody else dies? Yeah. I know, Buffy. People are dying every day all over. This girl is just one more statistic."  
  
"Stacey." Wesley said. "The statistic's name was Stacey Bluth."  
  
"Well, you know, we can't save everybody, and we can't sweat the small stuff." Angel walked into the office.  
  
"Small?"  
  
"Wes, I got a United States senator waiting for me, so just find out whatever you can about this Boretz thing and we'll talk later, ok? Buffy."  
  
"What?" Buffy asked, glaring.  
  
"Are you coming?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then sit out here and sulk." Angel slammed the door.  
  
"Small stuff?" Wesley asked.  
  
Spike touched Buffy's shoulder. "Listen, you need some Boretz killing done, I'll have a go. I haven't had a decent tussle since the blue meanie and I stopped sparring."  
  
"Yeah. All right. I think I'll go with."  
  
"Call me if you find anything." Wesley said. "I'll be in my office learning what I can." He walked away.  
  
"He showed no regard for my presence." Illyria said.  
  
"Not that you require any creature's attention." Spike said. Illyria glared. "Hey, wanna go find something to hit?"  
  
Illyria just looked annoyed. "Come on." Buffy said. "Let's go release some frustrations."  
  
Buffy, Spike, and Illyria walked through an abandoned amusement park at night. "See?" Spike said to Buffy. "This isn't so bad now. Little field trip out in the.... well, what passes in this city for fresh air. All we need now is to bag ourselves a Boretz demon, we got ourselves a perfect date."  
  
"You always knew how to show a Slayer a good time." Buffy said.  
  
"Too bad you're still married."  
  
"Yeah.... Too bad."  
  
"Angel does not think the casualties of this creature are important enough to avenge." Illyria said.  
  
"Yeah." Spike said. "I think corporate living's made him lose his love for the hunt. No worries. More for us then."  
  
"It does not serve his interest."  
  
"Not lately." Buffy said.  
  
"What are you on about?" Spike asked.  
  
"I've seen this before with many rulers." Illyria said. She looked at Buffy. "Your husband has been corrupted."  
  
"What do you mean corrupted?" Buffy asked.  
  
"It always begins the same. A ruler turns a blind eye to the dealings of battles from which he cannot gain.... and a deaf ear to the counsel of those closest to him. As his strength increases, so does the separation between he and his follow...."  
  
"Not Angel...."  
  
"Shh." Spike said. "You smell that?"  
  
"The odors of everything in this world of men are equally repugnant to me." Illyria said.  
  
"Bloody helpful."  
  
"You're wrong about Angel." Buffy said. "If he did turn evil.... I'd know it. I'd feel it."  
  
"You'll have proof soon enough." Illyria said. "A corrupted ruler on such a path sees treachery and betrayal all around him. He cannot suffer intimates and will eventually turn against them."  
  
"Guess I don't have to worry about that, 'cause Angel and me have never been intimate." Spike said. "Except that one...."  
  
"Mark me. He will murder one of you."  
  
Drogyn stepped out from a hiding place. "Actually, he already has."  
  
"Drogyn...." Buffy went to help the man stand.  
  
"Who is this?" Illyria asked.  
  
"The guardian of the Deeper Well." Spike said. "Greenskeeper of your graveyard, so to speak."  
  
"My jailer."  
  
Drogyn squinted at her. "Illyria...."  
  
"Boretz." Spike said. The Boretz demon jumped down on them, engaging Buffy in a powerful fistfight, ending when the Boretz flinging Buffy into the power junction box. Illyria and Spike stepped up and engaged the Boretz as Buffy got to her feet. "Stay away from its mouth! It's bite's poisonous. Go for its knees. I think there's a weak spot...." Illyria kicked the demon forcefully through the large wooden supports for a roller-coaster. "Ok. Yeah! That might do it."  
  
Buffy walked up to Drogyn. "Drogyn. What the hell are you doing here? And don't give me your 'ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies' crap."  
  
"I came to find you." Drogyn said. "I can find anyone who's visited the well.... be they in this world or any other. I.... I came to.... to warn you...." He collapsed and Buffy caught him.  
  
"He's bleeding." Buffy set him down. "What did this to you? The Boretz?"  
  
"No. It was Angel."  
  
They were all gathered at Spike's apartment except Angel. Drogyn was sitting on the couch while Spike sat on an end table nearby with Buffy leaning against him glaring at Drogyn. Illyria stood opposite of them while Drogyn filled in Wesley, Gunn and Lorne on the situation.  
  
"It was a Sathari.... part of a clan of demon assassins. They fell upon me last night. The poison from his 4 blades wearing heavy on my limbs."  
  
"Yeah, rousing bit of rah-rah, mate." Spike said. "Get to the goods."  
  
"Once I bested him, I tortured the Sathari for hours until he confessed who had sent him. It was Angel."  
  
"Tell 'em why."  
  
"He said Angel was afraid I'd find something in the Deeper Well, something that would uncover the truth about his involvement."  
  
"In what?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Helping Illyria escape from her tomb."  
  
"I thought the release of her sarcophagus from the Deeper Well was predestined." Wesley said.  
  
"Yeah, what about that bit?" Spike asked.  
  
"Well, that's what I thought at the time, but now I believe.... Illyria's resurrection may have been planned." Drogyn said.  
  
"By Angel." Gunn said.  
  
"Oh, that doesn't make a lick of sense." Lorne said. "I mean, why would Angel want to spring an old one?"  
  
"I don't think that was the point." Drogyn said.  
  
"Then what was?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Before he died, the assassin said something about a sacrifice.... someone trusted and dear."  
  
"Are you saying that Angel was responsible for what happened to Fred?" Wesley asked.  
  
"He may not have chosen her specifically, but...."  
  
"Shut up." Buffy said. "Angel didn't do that to Fred."  
  
"Do you think I gain pleasure in this? I held Angel an ally, a brother."  
  
"And you believe he may have murdered Fred?" Wesley asked.  
  
"I know this is difficult for you, but Angel was involved. The information retrieved from the assassin...."  
  
"You ever think maybe he was lying?" Gunn asked. Buffy noticed they had all crowded around her as if protecting her.  
  
"No one lies when they're at the mercy of my wrath."  
  
"Then you're the liar, Aragorn."  
  
"He has to tell the truth. It's a curse or something." Buffy said.  
  
"How can we be sure? We don't even know this guy."  
  
"Gunn, this is Drogyn, the battlebrand, given eternal youth a thousand years ago." Wesley said. "Demonbane, truthsayer.... Watchers' Council."  
  
"Percy did a paper. Bully on him." Spike said.  
  
Wesley unfolded a piece of paper. "Drogyn.... any idea what this symbol means?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Where'd you get that?" Buffy asked.  
  
"This afternoon, someone tapped into the template interface." Wesley said. "Sent a message to me, and that symbol. Somebody's dropping clues."  
  
"Playing games is more like it." Gunn said.  
  
"Well, put me on the short bus, but I still can't wrap my head around the notion that Angel has anything to do with Fred or any of this." Lorne said.  
  
"Angel's been doing a number of things out of character lately. We all noticed it." Wesley said.  
  
"Not me." Buffy said. "He seemed normal until today."  
  
"Why is this happening now? Why the change?" Lorne asked.  
  
"Yes, why the sudden need to tie up loose ends like Drogyn? Unless...." Wesley said.  
  
"He's preparing to make his move." Illyria said.  
  
"What kind of move are we talking about?" Gunn asked.  
  
"There's only one way to find out. We ask him." Wesley said. Wes, Gunn and Lorne walked toward the door. Spike helped Buffy up and the followed. "Drogyn should stay here under guard."  
  
"I'm not missing the fireworks." Spike said. "Hey, Illyria, you don't care about any of this nonsense, do you?"  
  
"The intricacies of your fates are meaningless." Illyria said.  
  
"Well and good. You mind watching over our friend Drogyn? Aw, come on. New place'll do you good. It's nice and cozy. Help yourself to some beer in the fridge. Switch on the telly if you get bored." Spike handed Illyria video game controls. "And, uh, feel free to play a little Crash Bandicoot. Give you lot something to pass the time." 


	41. Power Play p2

Chapter 41  
  
Angel was standing at Harmony's desk reviewing a contract. "Strike these 4 clauses and wire it back to them. See what they make of that." He said.  
  
"Yeah! See what they make of that." Harmony said.  
  
Buffy walked up to Angel with Spike, Wesley, Lorne, and Gunn directly behind her. "Angel...."  
  
"Long dinner?" He asked.  
  
"We need to talk to you. Now." She grabbed his arm harshly and yanked him towards their office.  
  
As soon as they were in and Spike shut the door, Angel looked at their grim faces and then back at Buffy. "Ok, what's on your minds?"  
  
"The question is what's on yours?" Buffy had on her 'no-bull-shit' face and Angel knew she was pissed off. "Our friend Drogyn's in town."  
  
"Is he?"  
  
"Yeah." Spike said. "A bit marked up, though. Somebody tried to have him killed. Know anything about that?"  
  
"Of course not. Where is he?"  
  
"He's safe." Gunn said.  
  
"Good. Now, can we get back to business, or was there something else?"  
  
"'Business'? What business are we in, Angel?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Do I really have to explain this to you people? We're in the business of business. Oil, software, worldwide wickets. The product doesn't matter. It's the game that matters. Get to the top, be the best, have the most, win."  
  
"Win what?" Buffy asked.  
  
"You're still missin' the point."  
  
"That Angel talking?" Gunn asked. "Cause it sounds a lot more like Angelus."  
  
"No." Buffy said, looking Angel directly in his suddenly cold eyes. "It's Angel in there."  
  
"Oh, if I were Angelus, half of you would already be dead, just for the fun of it." Angel said.  
  
Buffy cocked her head and crossed her arms. "One of us already is. We havin' fun yet?"  
  
"You want to know the truth? The truth is there's only one of us who ever understood how things really work. Lorne."  
  
"Whoa." Lorne said. "Hey, hey, hey. Can I not be the poster child for your nervous breakdown here?"  
  
"You didn't judge. You didn't spend your life obsessed with good and evil. You do that, you get swallowed, lost in the minutia. Good, bad, Angel, Angelus.... None of it makes a difference. I wish it did, but, you know, an ant with the best intentions or the most diabolical schemes is just exactly an ant. There is one thing in this business, in this apocalypse that we call a world that matters: Power. Power tips the scale, power sets the course, and until I have real power, global power, I have nothing. I accomplish nothing."  
  
"And how you get this power...." Wesley said.  
  
"Isn't pretty. Isn't fun. You think it's Wolfram & Hart getting to me here, and maybe you're right, because they've shown us what power is. From day one, they've been calling the shots, and all we've done is get shot at. I have a chance to change that."  
  
"And will you?" Lorne asked. "I mean, not to play an old saw, but power does traditionally corrupt. You get high up enough, and, well, the people, they do start to look like ants."  
  
"I can't worry about that.... the small stuff."  
  
Harmony walked in. "Angel, that important phone call from.... That guy about that thing, it's on line 3."  
  
"We're done here. I have to take this." The others started to file out, but Buffy stayed. Angel put his hand on her shoulder. "That means you too, Buffy."  
  
She raised an eyebrow. "I really should've stayed in Italy." Buffy slapped his hand away and followed the others out.  
  
Wesley met her at the door and turned to look at Angel. "The small stuff that you can't worry about, would that include Fred?"  
  
"I loved Fred." Angel said.  
  
"That's not an answer."  
  
"Then I guess you don't get one." Angel slammed the door.  
  
Wesley looked down at Buffy. "Buffy...."  
  
"I'm just glad Dawn's not here to see this." Buffy said. "She'd be heartbroken."  
  
"It was nice of you to let her go to a friend's house for a few days."  
  
"She had some time off. Why not?"  
  
"I bet you're regretting your decision to come back here."  
  
"Every passing minute, the urge to get the jet fueled is increasing."  
  
Wesley opened the door to the interrogation room and allowed Buffy to pass. "There's got to be something behind all this. A reason. It could be a ploy."  
  
Lorne looked over at them. "What would you like me to say? Tell you that Angel loved Fred, and that in an eon of eons, he would never harm her in any way? I wish I could, Wes, but if he believes what he's saying, and I believe he does...."  
  
"It doesn't make any sense." Buffy said. "Angel never cared about power."  
  
"Well, he's never had any to care about, has he? Not real power, even as Angelus, and then just like that, he's king of the mountain. It's quite a view from up there. Tends to make people want things. Even if they start with the best intentions, Angel's seen real power, and he's not looking away. He's gonna go for it."  
  
Gunn and Spike threw the door open, bringing in a man in shackles. It was Lindsey. "You guys look like you could use a hug." He said.  
  
Dawn walked out of the art school that she had been taking night courses at and into the fresh night air. Buffy had allowed her to stay at a friend's house for a few days and Dawn was grateful. Things had been way tense around that place and she just wanted a major break from it all.  
  
"Dawn."  
  
She turned to find Angel standing there. "Angel.... Where's Buffy?"  
  
"She's.... Busy."  
  
"Is everything ok?"  
  
"Can we sit down?"  
  
"Sure." Dawn walked over to a bench and pulled off her bag, laying it on the ground. Angel handed her an evelope. "Plane tickets? I don't believe it. We're getting away? I thought you guys didn't have time to.... There's only one?"  
  
"I need you to be out of here. It's not safe here."  
  
"Is it ever? Come on, Angel, I want to be with you and Buffy if there's trouble."  
  
"Dawn, not this time." He touched her cheek. "I love you because you are my little sister. Every time I look at you, I see Kathy."  
  
"Your real sister." Dawn sighed. "Please, Angel. The lines may work on Buffy, but I see right through you. Something's going down and I want to be here."  
  
"No. You're going and I'm not asking."  
  
Dawn sighed. "Does Buffy know?"  
  
"Not yet. I packed your things myself and had them sent to Faith's place. She knows you're coming and she'll be at the airstrip when you arrive."  
  
"I'll go." Dawn hugged Angel tightly. "But please, promise me that you AND Buffy will come for me when this is over."  
  
"I promise."  
  
Lindsey was sitting at the table surrounded by Buffy, Spike, Gunn, Lorne, and Wesley. "So what are you gonna do? You gonna beat it out of me?"  
  
Buffy shrugged. "If you say so."  
  
"We all know how this goes. " Gunn said. "Buffy beats you to a bloody pulp, you beg for mercy, and we get what we came for."  
  
"Who needs all that rigmarole?" Lorne asked.  
  
"I told you, I don't know why Buffy and Angel gave up that kid. Or anything else. Me and him, not too close. Why haven't you asked the Slayer here? I gotta get back to my game of Solitaire."  
  
"Because it's not about Connor. This is about Angel." Buffy said. Wesley handed her his drawing and Buffy showed it to Lindsey.  
  
"Where'd you get that?" He asked.  
  
"It doesn't matter. What does it mean?"  
  
"Is that what all this is about? All these questions about Angel. No. No way. No way they'd take Angel."  
  
"Who's they?"  
  
"The Circle of the Black Thorn."  
  
"Sounds like a little sewing club for pirates." Lorne said.  
  
"It's a secret society."  
  
"Never heard of them." Gunn said.  
  
"That's 'cause they're secret."  
  
"There's plenty of these cabals about." Spike said. "They usually spend a lot of time in basements paddling one another's bums to prove their manhood."  
  
"These are not frat boys, Spike. The circle's small. It's elite. They got connections you boys and girl can't even comprehend."  
  
"They're evil." Wesley said.  
  
"Sure. But evil's not the point. Power is."  
  
"Power." Buffy said. "Ok, we get it. They're bad ass. What do they do?"  
  
"Jeez. Are you guys always this slow? Huh? Starts with an 'a', ends in 'pocalypse.' It's a well-oiled machine, this circle. These people grease the wheels, keep the parts in place. Make sure man's inhumanity to man keeps rolling along."  
  
"We thought the senior partners were responsible for the apocalypse."  
  
"The senior partners are on a different plane. Down here.... it's the players in the circle that make things happen. Hell, you get tapped by one of them, it's kind of like getting the keys to the chocolate factory."  
  
"That's why you came back to L.A., tried to kill Angel. To get into the circle."  
  
"To be a Black Thorn is to be the senior partners' instrument on Earth. Doesn't get bigger than that."  
  
"Looks like Angel succeeded where you failed." Gunn said.  
  
"He doesn't have it in him."  
  
"Doesn't have what in him?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Well, for starters, he's gotta give up the champion angle. Quit saving girls in alleys. Probably wouldn't even make it on the circle's radar until he killed one of his lieutenants."  
  
"The senior partners, the Circle, they're killing Angel by degrees." Lorne said.  
  
"And we all watched it happen." Wesley said.  
  
"The man I knew wouldn't want this. Wouldn't wanna be this." Buffy said, shaking her head furiously. "Angel's dedicated his life to helping others. It was never because he had to, but because it was a path he'd chosen. A path that started with me and it's gonna start there again. If he's been influenced from that, then maybe there's still time. I can bring him back. He'd do the same for any of us, no matter what."  
  
"And what if he's skipped too far down that evil brick road?" Lorne asked.  
  
Buffy looked a little uncertain. "I'll find a way to bring him back. God damn it, that's my husband out there and those Black Thorns in my side assholes are trying to take him away from me. No way, no how. I'm getting Angel back even if it kills me in the process." The Slayer hauled Lindsey to his feet and shoved him harshly against the wall. "Where do they meet?"  
  
"I don't know. It's secret, remember?" Lindsey said.  
  
Buffy slammed him again. "Don't hand me that. You know more about these guys than anybody else. Tell me where they meet."  
  
Taking a deep breath, Buffy glanced at herself in the mirror one last time. She was in a very evil-Buffy looking outfit made of nothing but black leather and see-through material. The top was a tight corset that showed off her.... Assests and showed off her toned stomach. The sleeves of the thing were black lace that clung to her and came to a point that had a loop that was slipped over her middle finger. The black leather pants were hip hugging and almost dipped too low. She wore black lace up boots and her hair was down over her shoulders. She was glad she had decided to dye it to a darker color. It made her look more sinister.  
  
"Would you go already?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Sorry. I'm a little.... Nevermind." Buffy hopped out of the car and looked at Gunn as he headed back to the SUV behind them. "I'll meet you back at the office."  
  
"Good luck. Be safe."  
  
Buffy turned and looked at the seemingly abandoned warehouse. Time to put her skills to the test. She pushed all nervousness aside and strolled in through the door. Apparently, the guard recognized her and tried to stop her. He was unconscious before he could make a sound. Buffy pulled back the curtain and walked into a vast room where demons and humans alike milled about. Angel stood at the far end sipping champagne. All eyes were on her except Angel. He was talking to Izzy, the devil-looking demon from the office that Angel played squash or racket-ball or whatever with.  
  
The Slayer strolled right up to her husband. "Sorry I'm late." He turned to her, surprised. "What? You didn't forget that you invited me to this little get together?"  
  
"Uh.... No." Angel said. "Izzy, you remember...."  
  
"You're wife." Izzy finished. "How could I forget? You look absolutely ravishing."  
  
"Well, once you give me the chance to get out of those suits.... What can I say? I'm a tiger."  
  
"You certainly are."  
  
Buffy touched his arm suggestively, cringing on the inside and then dismissed him by turning her back on him. "So how'd everything go, baby?"  
  
Angel pulled her to the side. "Are you crazy?" He hissed.  
  
"Apparently you are." She hissed back.  
  
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"  
  
Buffy noticed Sebassis walking up to them. "Archduke Sebasis! It's been too long."  
  
"Kudos, child. I must say, it's gratifying to see you've both returned to form, Angelus."  
  
"It's still Angel." Angel said.  
  
"Ah. Well, what's in a name, eh? In the spirit of our new alliance, you must allow me to throw a dinner party in your honor."  
  
"You know how I love parties."  
  
The Senator from earlier walked up and Angel wrapped his arm tightly around Buffy's waist. "It's nice to see you again so soon, Angel.... Buffy."  
  
"Senator. I had no idea you were so well.... connected." Buffy said.  
  
"Well, I'm not gonna take the White House in 2008 on just my sparkling wit and funding from hostile governments."  
  
"I expect not."  
  
Izzy came back up. "Excuse us, Helen. Buffy, Angel, I've got someone here who'd like to pay his respects."  
  
"Vail." Angel said.  
  
"You've been looking for me." Vail said.  
  
"Actually, I've been looking like I'm looking for you. Appearances, you know."  
  
"See, Cyvus?" Izzy said. "I told you it was all good. Now why don't you two shake hands? Come on."  
  
"No hard feelings then?" Vail asked.  
  
"Ultimately, everything worked out for the best." Angel said.  
  
"Oh. Your son, he kills quite well."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Got a great turnout for your initiation." Izzy said.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Oh, yeah. Everybody's here. Here, let me freshen that up and get your beautiful wife something."  
  
Angel stepped off the elevator a step behind Buffy. "Initiation? What the hell is going on here Angel?" Buffy asked.  
  
"You wouldn't understand."  
  
"Oh, I understand perfectly well that everyone of those people in that room were worthy of Angelus' time, but not yours." She stopped and looked at him. "Am I loosing you to them, Angel? Are they more important to you than me and Dawn.... Your family?"  
  
"Would you stop whining?" Angel backed her into the office. "I'm so sick of hearing it! Why don't you just go back to Italy and...."  
  
The door shut behind him, revealing Gunn. Spike caught Angel off-guard and punched him in the face, sending him to the ground. Wesley and Lorne walked out of the conference room. They were surrounding Angel now, each armed: Gunn with a sword, Spike with his fists, Wesley with a shotgun, and Lorne with a crossbow.  
  
Buffy put her hands on her hips and stared at Angel as she kneeled in front of him. " You might wanna stay down, baby. They have orders to kill you."  
  
"Orders from who?" Angel asked.  
  
"From me."  
  
"You don't wanna get yourselves hurt."  
  
"We know what you've been doing." Gunn said.  
  
"Obviously." Angel looked at Buffy. "How'd you find out where?"  
  
"That's for me to know and you to never find out." Buffy shook her head. "Giving up the baby to the Fell Brethren, working for Senator Bitch, trying to take out Drogyn to cover up what you did to Fred. And for what? To get in bed with the Circle of the Black Thorn?"  
  
"So you figured it out."  
  
"Yeah, a little singing from a jailbird we know.... and loathe." Lorne said.  
  
"Lindsey? And you believed him."  
  
"Doesn't have a reason to lie." Spike said, taking his place next to Buffy.  
  
"Doesn't need one."  
  
"Unlike you?" Buffy asked.  
  
"What I do here is my business. You don't like how I conduct it, you can leave.... before I kill you."  
  
"You can try."  
  
"Kill us?" Wesley asked. "Hard to believe we're having trouble trusting you."  
  
"Just telling it like it is." Angel said.  
  
"Then we have a problem."  
  
"I guess we do." Angel grabbed the shotgun barrel and pushed it away from him while kicking Wesley to the ground. Spike charged Angel, but Angel punched him first. Gunn raised his sword, but Angel blocked his swing and hit him in the head with the barrel of the shotgun. Lorne pointed his crossbow at Angel and fired a shot, hitting Angel in the shoulder. Angel dropped the shotgun. Wesley pulled a pistol out of his belt, but Angel kicked it out of his hand before he could fire it. Buffy moved in and she and Angel engaged in a fight that would probably kill them both. She pulled out Mr. Pointy and Angel laughed. "You can't do it. You know it's still me in here."  
  
"I've killed you before."  
  
Angel grabbed Lorne around the neck and held him as a hostage. "Are we done?"  
  
"Let him go."  
  
"No more orders. Lorne, pull this thing out of me." Lorne reached for the arrow sticking out of Angel's shoulder. "Easy. Not in a great mood." Lorne pulled out the arrow. "Good. Now, let's finish this." Angel pulled a crystal out of his pocket and held it out in front of him. "Involvere." The crystal glowed and sent a force throughout the entire room. Angel let go of Lorne. "All right, we have 6 minutes."  
  
"Till what?" Spike asked.  
  
"The glamour collapses. As far as anyone outside this room is concerned, we're still at each other's throats."  
  
"Aren't we?" Wesley asked. Once again, they were crowding near Buffy in protective stances. Angel felt awful that he had put them in that position.  
  
"Look, we don't have a lot of time here, so I'm gonna have to make this short. Everything you think you know, everything you've heard, is a lie."  
  
"Why should we believe you?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Because I'm the one who told it. Read any good books lately?"  
  
"You sent us the message?" Wesley asked.  
  
"And the assassin to kill Drogyn."  
  
"So that part was true." Buffy said.  
  
"I knew Drogyn could handle himself. I told the assassin just enough to lead Drogyn to think I played a part in resurrecting Illyria. I figured he'd come here looking for allies against me."  
  
"Why would you want us to believe you killed Fred?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Because they needed to believe it."  
  
"The Black Thorn."  
  
"They needed to believe my own people didn't trust me anymore. They needed to believe a person as good and as pure as Drogyn considered me an enemy. It was the only way to gain their confidence."  
  
"Oh, so this whole evil Angel thing has been a big scamola. Hmm. I smell Oscar." Lorne said.  
  
"When did this all start?" Buffy asked.  
  
"2 months ago. With a kiss." Angel said.  
  
"Is that what that was? When Cordelia casually kissed you? She gave you her visions?"  
  
"One-shot deal. She put me on the path, showed me where the real powers are. But I couldn't see who they were. Then, when Fred died, I wasn't gonna let that be another random horrible event in another random horrible world. So I decided to use it, to make her death matter. And it worked. I'm in. I've seen the faces of evil. I know who the real powers in the apocalypse are."  
  
"So, all that power tilts the scales crap....?" Gunn started.  
  
"It's true. We're in a machine. That machine's gonna be here long after our bodies are dust. But the senior partners will always exist in one form or another because mankind is weak."  
  
"Uh, do you want me to point my crossbow at him, 'cause I think he's gonna start talking about ants again." Lorne asked Buffy. She held up her hand and allowed Angel to continue.  
  
He looked at her gratefully. "We are weak. The powerful control everything.... except our will to choose. Look, Lindsey's a pathetic halfwit, but he was right about one thing. Heroes don't accept the way the world is. The senior partners may be eternal, but we can make their existence painful."  
  
"You wanna take them on." Buffy said.  
  
"We're in a machine. The Black Thorn runs it. We can bring their gears to a grinding halt, even if it's just for a moment."  
  
"About time we got our hands dirty." Spike said.  
  
"This isn't a keep-fightin'- the-good-fight kind of deal. Let's be clear. I'm talking about killing every.... single.... member.... of the Black Thorn. We don't walk away from that."  
  
"Do we crawl away, at least?" Lorne asked.  
  
"We do this, the senior partners will rain their full wrath. They'll make an example of us. I'm talking full-on hell, not the basic fire-and- brimstone kind we're used to."  
  
"We know the drill." Gunn said.  
  
"No, you don't. 10-to-1, we're gone when the smoke clears. They will do everything in their power to destroy us. So.... I need you to be sure. Power endures. We can't bring down the senior partners, but for one bright, shining moment, we can show them that they don't own us. You need to decide for yourselves if that's worth dying for. I can't order you to do this. I can't do it without you. So we'll vote. As a team. Think about what I'm asking you to do, think about what I'm asking you to give."  
  
"Kill 'em all.... burn the house down while we're still in it." Spike said.  
  
"Something like that."  
  
"Huh."  
  
Buffy stepped forward and grasped Angel's hand tightly. He noticed it was shaking slightly. "You know where you go, I go. Till death do us part and then some, right?"  
  
Spike raised his hand. "I'm in."  
  
"I'm in." Wesley said.  
  
Slowly, Gunn and finally Lorne raised their hands. 


	42. Not Fade Away p1

Chapter 42  
  
"Then we're all agreed." Angel said, glancing down at Buffy.  
  
"Yeah, we're all one big happy Manson family." Spike said.  
  
"We taking 'em all at once?" Gunn asked.  
  
Angel shook his head. "Can't. Circle of the Black Thorn is the most powerful group in this plane of existence. Together, they'd vaporize us, but separated, they're just demons."  
  
Buffy stood a little taller despite her anxiety. "When do we make our move?"  
  
Angel squeezed her shaking hand. "Soon. In the meantime, we have to keep up the infighting. The circle needs to believe we're coming apart at the seams." He looked down at Buffy. "Except for you. They think you're in on this now and you are. Can you handle it?"  
  
"As long as I don't have to kill anybody, I'm game."  
  
"What about Illyria?" Gunn asked.  
  
"What about her?" Angel asked.  
  
"Move like this, wouldn't hate having Blue Thunder in our corner."  
  
"Can't trust she'll come down on our side."  
  
"Trust me, she's housebroken." Lorne said. "She was babysitting Drogyn...."  
  
"She was with Drogyn?"  
  
"Relax. The two of them were getting on well enough." Spike said.  
  
"You have to get over there now."  
  
"Why? What is it?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Drogyn's dead."  
  
"And how do you know that, Kreskin?" Spike asked.  
  
"Because I killed him."  
  
"What?" Angel punched Spike in the face. "Ow! You son of a...." Spike swung at Angel and missed. Angel grabbed Spike around the throat as Hamilton walked in through the office door.  
  
"Sorry." He said. "Didn't know you were.... in conference."  
  
"I was just making a closing statement...." Angel let go of Spike and pushed him toward the door. "Unless somebody didn't hear me." Gunn, Spike, and Lorne filed out the door. Angel stopped Wes on his way out. "Goes for you, too, Wes. Illyria's your responsibility. Make sure she doesn't get twitchy." He closed the door behind the others and Buffy ran her hand up the back of his shirt, nipping at his neck.  
  
"So it's true." Hamilton said.  
  
"What is?" Angel laid his hand on Buffy's bottom and kissed the top of her head, rolling his face towards Hamilton so his cheek stayed on Buffy.  
  
"That she's in on it. Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"She's C.E.O. too. You should have figured it out."  
  
"The way she was acting....."  
  
"Was playing to the crowd." Buffy said. "Poor little wifey.... But now I can stop pretending. Can't I baby?" Angel growled as she kissed his passionately.  
  
"Well.... Anyways.... You've got yourself a problem."  
  
"Nothing you have to worry about." Angel said.  
  
"Oh, not me. Your new friends. The Black Thorn. They're very concerned."  
  
"Tell them to send me a memo. My wife and I are busy trying to run a business."  
  
"You can tell them yourselves. They want to see you right now. Both of you." Hamilton grinned and turned toward the door. "No rest for the wicked."  
  
As soon as he was gone, Buffy shoved Angel on the couch and straddled him. He played along and Buffy leaned into him, making it look like she was nibbling on his ear and neck. "He doesn't like that I'm in on it now."  
  
"I can tell." Angel said.  
  
"What're we going to do?"  
  
"The Black Thorn likes you. You made an impression at the initiation. You'll be fine."  
  
"What do you think they want?"  
  
"We'll find out soon."  
  
Angel sat at the head of the table listening to the other members chant. Buffy sat at his side looking like she was her evil self again: Regal and ruthless. "Of the world's woe, now convene. All is bound by the circle and its thorns. Invisible, inviolate, we, the seeds of the storm, at the center of the world's woe, now convene."  
  
Sebassis looked at Angel. "The circle does not abide secrets."  
  
"Which is interesting for a secret society." Buffy retorted.  
  
"Remember your place, Slayer. You are not a member."  
  
"If my place is in the circle, then hers is too." Angel said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.  
  
"This morning's insurrection did not go unnoticed."  
  
"You mean my people."  
  
"They tried to kill you. An embarrassing affront, to say the least."  
  
Vail spoke up. "And the stepping stone to disaster. You have ascended, Angel. You should not be burdened with this kind of...." He started to gasp and checked his tubes. The scrawny, pale slave of Sebassis' was wearing a blindfold and tripping over Vail's tubes. "Sebassis! Your manservant has become tangled in my bodily fluids again!"  
  
Buffy grunted and stood up. She hauled the slave away and shoved him back. "Problem solved."  
  
"My people are the problem?" Angel asked.  
  
"Some of them, yes." Sebassis said.  
  
"Some? Who missed the cut?"  
  
"Other that your wife, we're interested in Mr. Wyndam-Price. He seems intriguingly unstable." Vail said.  
  
"Mr. Gunn, on the other hand, does not, which is a pity. He had so much potential." The Senator said.  
  
"He is not, however, our greatest concern." Sebassis said.  
  
Angel smirked. "If the next words out of your mouth are 'Kill Spike', we just might have to kiss." Buffy glared at him. "Or at least hug."  
  
"Spike is not the threat. You are." Sebassis signaled Izzy. "You've proven your loyalty to the circle. Regrettably, there's something stronger than loyalty.... hope." Izzy produced a cylindrical document holder and pulled a document out of it. He unrolled it on the table in front of Angel.  
  
"This is the Shanshu Prophecy." Angel said.  
  
"The original."  
  
"The vampire with a soul will play a pivotal role in the apocalypse." The senator said.  
  
"And as a reward, will become human." Vail finished.  
  
"A paranoid person might think you're trying to manipulate us in an attempt to fulfill this prophecy and live out a normal life with your beautiful wife at your side."  
  
"I have no desire to become human." Angel said.  
  
Sebassis looked at Buffy. "What?" She asked. "You think as a human he could be half the man he is now. Too bad you'll never get him in bed, Sebassis. I think you'd understand why I like him better this way."  
  
Sebassis chuckled. "Very well then. I guess you won't mind signing that pesky future away. Through that document, the prophecy can be undone. Your signature there will remove any opportunity that you will ever earn your once-precious humanity. Will you sign it?"  
  
"Of course." Angel took the pen Izzy offered him. He leaned forward and began to sign it.  
  
Izzy grabbed the pen from Angel and stabbed him in the left hand with it. "It's gotta be signed in blood." Angel grunted as he pulled the pen out of the back of his hand. He signed his name on the top of the document with his right hand.  
  
Buffy watched Angel after Harmony left. She was standing out with Hamilton watching the blonde vampire strut away. "The Black Thorn has stated that you are quite the delight to have with them."  
  
"Yeah." Buffy said offhandedly.  
  
"You're not happy with it?"  
  
She glanced at him. "I'm thrilled. It's him I'm worried about."  
  
"The Black Thorn is now counting on you to keep him in line."  
  
"I'm the only one who can it. Even Angelus bent to my will." With that, Buffy walked off. She headed into the office and shut the door behind her. "Hey."  
  
"Hey." Angel said, turning to her.  
  
"Hamilton's watching. Let's go upstairs." Buffy slipped her hand in Angel's back pocket and squeezed. He pulled her tightly to him and they headed towards the elevator. Once they got upstairs and made sure they were alone, the Slayer shoved Angel backwards. "I can't believe you!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You signed away...." She tried to hold back a sob. "You signed your humanity away." He looked away guiltily. "I had to."  
  
"You could have made a perfect excuse not to." The tears started to fall. "Our future's gone."  
  
"It's not gone."  
  
"As normal people it is. You're going to have to watch me grow old and die while you stay the same forever."  
  
"I know."  
  
"We're back to square one again."  
  
"I'm sorry." Angel wrapped Buffy in his arms and kissed her neck as she sobbed. "I'm sorry."  
  
"I'm just as guilty as you are. I just sat there, watching you sign your soul away."  
  
"Buffy...." Angel paused. An idea forming. "Mohra."  
  
She pulled away and sniffed. "What?"  
  
"The Mohra demon.... The one that made me human before.... We'll find another one some day and be together."  
  
"Oh Angel.... What are the chances of bagging one? We won't have the resources to find them anymore."  
  
"Then we'll travel."  
  
"With what? I'm broke...."  
  
"But I'm not. Wolfram and Hart can't touch the places I have money hidden. And I've got plenty."  
  
"And what happens when that runs out?"  
  
"We'll find a way. We always find a way, Buffy."  
  
"You gotta be joking." Lindsey said. "Why on God's green and verdant Earth would I trust you either of you, huh? Or you, me?" Buffy and Angel were sitting in the conference room having just proposed an idea to Lindsey.  
  
"Cause it's not about us, Lindsey." Angel said. "It's about them. The wolf. The ram. The hart. The ones we've been fighting against forever."  
  
"You can't beat em."  
  
"Maybe they're not there to be beat." Buffy said quietly. "Maybe they're there to be fought. Maybe fighting them is what makes human beings so remarkably strong."  
  
"You're not talking about the kind of strength human beings have. This is not about coveting your neighbor's ass, your buddy's job, the last Mallomar in the box. You're talking about fighting flesh and something that passes for blood demons with enormous power, and they will mow you both down."  
  
"Maybe.... but I keep thinking that once this world was theirs and now it's not." Angel said.  
  
"Isn't it?"  
  
"Give us the hell on Earth speech, Lindsey. I know how bad things are, how much sway the demons hold. I happen to be the greatest mass murderer you've ever met."  
  
"Never given you props for that, have I?"  
  
"There's always going to be power, and there's always going to be corruption."  
  
"So again I ask you...."  
  
"Cause it's not what I'm expected to do. Cause you're good in a fight. And let's say we come up rolling 7s and this does go our way. We tear up this firm, someone's going to have to step in. I know that's what you want. Now, I'm a lot more comfortable with the thought of you in that position than anyone else."  
  
"The devil you know."  
  
"That'd be you." Buffy said.  
  
"And what if you roll snake eyes?"  
  
"You'll talk your way out of it. You'll tell them we forced you to help us. Tell them I made my scary face." Angel said.  
  
"Believe it or not, I was actually talking about you. You guys don't care about being squashed like a bug?"  
  
"Why does everyone refer to bugs when they talk about me?" Buffy asked.  
  
"You haven't heard a word I've said. For, like, years back." Angel said to Lindsey.  
  
"Well, you get a little speechy, all right? And I breeze out. I got the Cliff Notes.... honor and humanity. Absolute good. I heard it. So here's the plot twist.... I'm in." Lindsey said.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Everybody goes on about your soul. Vampire with a soul. Nobody ever mentions the fact that you're really a vampire with big brass testes. This is gonna be a circus. I mean, win or lose, you're about to pick the nastiest fight since mankind drop-kicked the last demon out of this dimension. And that you don't do without me. If you want me, I'm on your team."  
  
"I want you, Lindsey." Both Buffy and Lindsey stared at Angel. "I'm thinking about rephrasing that."  
  
"Yeah, I think I Buffy and I'd both be more comfortable if you did."  
  
Wesley, Spike and Gunn were standing in a circle, talking, while Lorne sat in a chair in the corner, watching Illyria. Buffy stood with Angel across the room. She was still in her bad-ass-evil-Buffy clothes, but didn't seem to notice hat she was uncomfortable in them. "How's she doing?" She asked Wesley.  
  
"She needs more care than I can provide here. I have to get some supplies from home. Watch over her for me." Wesley said, grabbing his coat.  
  
"Fat lotta good that's gonna do if Hamilton decides to make another house call." Spike said.  
  
"Hamilton did this?" Angel asked.  
  
"You didn't know?" Lorne asked.  
  
"He brought Drogyn."  
  
"To the circle.... so you could kill him to prove you'd gone over." Wesley said.  
  
"Yeah." Lorne said. "Say, any other tips on how to be a hero we could share with the boys and girls at home?"  
  
"I didn't have a choice. They would have killed us both...." Angel said.  
  
"We get it." Gunn said. "We'd just like to know if they're gonna need any of the rest of us as proof."  
  
"Pick us off one by one, you know." Spike said.  
  
"No, they won't." Buffy said.  
  
"We're killing them all tonight." Angel finished. "I want you all to do something for me, for yourselves. Take the day off."  
  
"What?" Spike asked.  
  
"If we're planning to assassinate the power elite of the apocalypse tonight, shouldn't we be cowboying up?" Gunn asked.  
  
"We'll be ready, but today, I want you guys to go out. Live. Do whatever you want." Angel said.  
  
"Live the day like it's your last...." Buffy said grimly. "Cause it probably is."  
  
Buffy walked up to Connor in the coffee shop. She had changed her shirt to a white turtleneck sweater that was really baggy on her. "Hey kiddo."  
  
Connor looked up. "Hi." He stood to give her a hug. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Came for a visit."  
  
"Where's Angel?"  
  
"He's.... Somewhere."  
  
"You guys aren't...."  
  
"No! We're fine. I just had some time on my hands."  
  
"That's cool." There was a pause and Connor looked her in the eyes. "I understand why Angel did it.... But why did you?"  
  
"I thought you hated me just as much as you hated your father."  
  
"I never did. A part of me kinda resented you a little because you were with him, but.... I loved you. Still love you. You're my mother."  
  
Buffy touched her son's cheek and moved his hair out of the way. "I love you more than life itself. I told you I would give you the world if I could.... And I did. I gave you a better world. Angel and I both did."  
  
"So, what's really going on?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You don't just show up out of the blue for a chat and some coffee."  
  
"There's stuff, but it's nothing you need to worry about."  
  
"Hey. Thought I find you here." Angel said, walking up.  
  
"Yeah." Buffy pulled up a seat and Angel sat down.  
  
"What were you guys talking about?"  
  
"Family stuff."  
  
Angel looked confused, so Connor clarified. "I know you're my parents."  
  
"You got your memories back." Angel said.  
  
"Yeah, they're mixed in there with the new ones. Kind of like, uh.... a bad dream I had, I guess, a very strange and violent, at times, inappropriately erotic.... dream."  
  
"You probably have a lot of questions."  
  
"No. I don't want to make a thing. I get what you guys did. You know.... I'm grateful. That's as far as I want to take it.... Ok?"  
  
After a moment, Buffy looked at Connor's papers. "So, what are you working on?"  
  
"I am applying for an internship. I'm supposed to write up a resume."  
  
"Need any help?" Angel asked.  
  
"Have you either of you ever written a resume before? Ever?"  
  
"No.... but I have very nice handwriting."  
  
"You girl." Buffy and Connor said. 


	43. Not Fade Away p2

A/N I am soooo sorry guys. I accidentally put up the chapter after this one. Now that you know that Buffy lives.... I'll have to throw you a curve ball. HAHAHA! Thanks for the reviews.  
  
Chapter 43  
  
The gang has reassembled in Spike's apartment. Wesley, Spike, and Gunn were sitting down while Angel paced the floor. Illyria was standing behind Wesley. Lorne was sitting on the edge of a table off to the side. Buffy leaned against the wall next to the door. "This may come out a little pretentious, but.... one of you will betray me." Angel said. Spike raised his hands eagerly. "Wes."  
  
"Oh." Spike put his hand down, then suddenly hopeful, "Can I deny you 3 times?" Buffy chuckled at the platinum-blonde vampire.  
  
"Vail is the sorcerer of the bunch. You know that game. You've seen his place. He believes you'd make a play for my spot."  
  
"That's not very flattering." Wesley said.  
  
"It'll get you in the door. Illyria.... Izzerial the Devil and 3 other members of the circle dine together almost every night."  
  
"I'll make trophies of their spines." Illyria said.  
  
"Good to have you on the team. Gunn."  
  
"Yo." Gunn said.  
  
"Your friend Senator Brucker has a campaign office in west L.A. You already know she's pure hellspawn, and she tends to surround herself with vampires."  
  
"I was hoping it'd be vamps. I haven't dusted nearly enough this year." Gunn looked at Spike. "No offense."  
  
"That's all right." Spike said.  
  
"Spike." Angel said.  
  
"Right. First off, I'm not wearing any amulets. No bracelets, broaches, beads, pendants, pins, or rings...."  
  
"Fine. All you need is a rattle."  
  
"Ah, the baby."  
  
"And a legion of the Fell Brethren. I want the kid returned to his mother and the foster family dismembered."  
  
"Done and done."  
  
"Archduke Sebassis has over 40,000 demons at his command. The other members of the council fear him. He's the key player...."  
  
"So he's mine." Buffy said. Angel looked at her. "What? He has a thing for me. You think it wouldn't be easy to slip in there and kill him without being noticed?"  
  
Angel sighed. "Fine. Lorne...."  
  
"Uh, I'm not a fighter, Angelwings." Lorne said. "I never had the stomach for it. Looks like I'm your weak link."  
  
"I just need you to back up Lindsey."  
  
"I still can't believe you brought him in." Wesley said.  
  
"He's part of this. It'll be just as dangerous for him as it will be for everyone else on our team."  
  
"So I guess we're not going back to the office after this." Gunn said.  
  
"The alley just north of the Hyperion. Everyone who makes it meets there." Buffy said. "If we do any damage at all, the senior partners are gonna rain hell on us. So be ready."  
  
"Hey, guys, uh, I'll do this last thing for you, for us.... but then I'm out, and you won't find me in the alley afterwards. Hell, you won't find me at all. Do me a favor. Don't try."  
  
Wesley grabbed his coat and walked toward the door with Gunn and Illyria. "The day went by fast, huh?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Try not to die." Illyria said to him. "You are not unpleasant to my eyes."  
  
"Uh, thanks. You.... try not to die, too. Later, then."  
  
Wesley looked at Buffy. "You are truly the best Slayer any Watcher could ever hope to have trained. I like to think that I had a part in that."  
  
Buffy kissed Wesley's cheek and hugged him tightly. "I like to think you did too." Wesley stared at Angel for a long moment before he walked out. Illyria followed. Buffy, Spike, and Angel were the only ones left in the apartment now. "What do you think all this means for that Shanshu bugaboo?" Spike asked. "If we make it through this, does one of us get to be a real boy?"  
  
"Who you kidding? We're not gonna make it through." Angel said.  
  
"Well, long as it's not you." With that, Spike walked out leaving Buffy and Angel alone.  
  
"You know...." Buffy said, turning to her husband. "It's probably our last day on earth together and we haven't done anything about that. Doesn't that seem wrong?"  
  
"I bought us a little time." Angel said, taking her hand.  
  
Buffy started to cry. "I love you so much Angel."  
  
Angel pulled her to him as he started to cry too. "Don't worry, lover. We'll be together again."  
  
"Just make sure you're in that alley. I don't want to fight without you."  
  
"Buffy.... Kiss me."  
  
Buffy raised her face to Angel's and kissed him passionately as he slipped her shirt above her head and led her towards Spike's bed.  
  
Angel stepped off the private elevator into his and Buffy's apartment. He made a beeline for a fancy wooden box on the table and opened it, taking out a knife with a curved blade. While examining the knife, Angel heard a door close behind him. Hamilton had just walked in.  
  
"Going out?" The man asked.  
  
"Why? You wanna order in?"  
  
"I hear you already have plans. Gonna take that when you visit Sebassis? Why don't I think that's a gift?" Hamilton punched Angel immensely hard, sending him through the penthouse windows, where Angel fell outside for a few stories before finally falling through the glass ceiling into the lobby.  
  
"Oh my God!" Harmony yelped.  
  
"Hamilton...." Angel said.  
  
"He's not my boyfriend. I mean, I certainly didn't betray you."  
  
Angel pushed himself to his feet. "Drop the act, Harm."  
  
"It's not an act. I'm really this nervous."  
  
"I knew you'd turn on me. I just didn't know when."  
  
"What do you mean you knew?"  
  
"Loyalty really isn't high on your list."  
  
"Oh, is that right? I'll have you know I am damn loyal, dumbass."  
  
"You betrayed me. You are betraying me now, even as we are talking."  
  
"Because you never have any confidence in me."  
  
"No, because you have no soul."  
  
"I would if you had confidence in me."  
  
"Get out of the building."  
  
"Are you firing me?"  
  
"Among other things, yes."  
  
"Do you think I could get a recommendation?"  
  
"Yeah, ok."  
  
"But see, if you don't so much live as the other thing, how...."  
  
"It's already in the desk."  
  
"You're the best." Harmony went to the desk to get her things just as Hamilton walked out of Angel's office, slowly heading straight for Angel. "Good luck. Um.... may the best man win?"  
  
"So...." Hamilton said.  
  
"Yeah." Angel punched Hamilton hard in the stomach, but didn't make a dent. "Did that hurt at all?"  
  
"Little bit." Hamilton grabbed Angel by the windpipe and Angel winced as he was lifted off the ground. "But it's all part of the job." He threw Angel across the room so hard that Angel shattered a support post, going right through it. He picked Angel up off the floor and held him by the lapels. "The senior partners have expended an awful lot of time and resources on you. Personally, I would have told them not to bother." He threw Angel across the lobby again, where he crashed into the company logo on the balcony. "You're gutter trash, and that's where you should have stayed, drinking and whoring your way through an unremarkable life. But the fates stepped in and made you a vampire, with a soul, no less. A champion. A hero of the people. And yet, you still managed to fail everyone around you. Doyle. Cordelia. Fred. They're all gone. Now it's time you followed." He grabbed Angel up out of the debris and looked into his face. "Did you really think you were gonna kill Archduke Sebassis?"  
  
"No.... I think I already did." Buffy said behind Hamilton. "I spiked his drink."  
  
"You've signed your death warrant little girl." Hamilton dropped Angel.  
  
"See, I love it when they mistake me for a little girl."  
  
"You're dead."  
  
"Like I haven't heard that before." Hamilton charged, but Buffy sidestepped and kicked him roughly in the back, sending him flying into the elevator doors. "You really should do your homework, Hammy. I defeated a god. What makes you think you're better?"  
  
"I work for more than just one god." Hamilton kicked out and sent Buffy flying back through a wall. She rolled onto her side and spit blood. Angel got to his feet and engaged Hamilton. "Why do you keep fighting? You signed away your Shanshu. There's nothing in it for you anymore."  
  
"People who don't care about anything will never understand the people who do." Angel said.  
  
"Yeah, but we won't care." Hamilton sent Angel flying.  
  
Angel writhed on the floor, groaning as Hamilton picked up a stake off Harmony's desk. Hamilton walked over to Angel, kneeled to pick Angel up by the lapel as he reared back ready to plunge the stake into Angel's chest. But before he could do it, someone punched him in the face, sending him flying across the room away from Angel. Hamilton went through a glass wall, shattering it. Angel looked up to see Buffy and Connor standing side by side, fists pulled back.  
  
"Care about that, dress-for-less?" Connor asked.  
  
"What the hell are you doing here?" Angel asked.  
  
"Come on. You guys drop by for a cup of coffee, and the world's not ending? Please."  
  
"He's definitely our son." Buffy said. She grabbed Hamilton and stomped her foot into his face. "Scummy bastard." He got to his feet and punched Buffy hard, but she still stood.  
  
"Mom!" Connor yelled.  
  
"I'm good." Buffy reared back and backhanded Hamilton.Ha They traded blows for a bit, the guys watching with amazement behind them. Suddenly, Hamilton had a knife and stabbed Buffy in the leg. She cried out and fell to the ground, ripping the knife out. Before Hamilton could punch her, Angel and Connor were on him.  
  
Hamilton head-butted Connor. "What is with you people?" He threw Connor into the elevator doors, where he collapsed to the floor.  
  
"Connor!" Angel yelled. He tried to get to his son, but Hamilton blocked the way. Angel tried to fight Hamilton but was instead thrown across the room by him again. Angel landed on the concrete steps.  
  
"Let me say this as clearly as I can. You cannot beat me. I am a part of them. The Wolf, Ram, and Hart. Their strength flows through my veins. My blood is filled with their ancient power."  
  
"Can you pick out the one word there you probably shouldn't have said?" Angel asked. He transformed into his vampire facade as he attacked Hamilton, biting him painfully in the jugular. Angel drank from him, holding on tenaciously as Hamilton struggled to get free. Hamilton was finally able to pull Angel's head away from his neck, and he threw him across the room again, but this time Angel controlled his motion, managing to rotate in the air and land on his feet. "Wow. You really are full of it." Hamilton swung at Angel, but Angel ducked. "What was that you were saying about ancient power?" Hamilton threw another punch at Angel, but Angel caught his arm and punched Hamilton in the ribs. Hamilton swung with his free arm, hitting Angel in the face, but Angel returned the favor, punching Hamilton in the face.  
  
Hamilton managed to haul Angel up by the throat. "You don't really think you're gonna win this, do you? You don't stand a chance. We are legion. We are forever."  
  
Buffy staggered up behind Hamilton and yanked his head back by his hair. "I've been shot, stabbed, broken, killed, electrocuted, and pinned to the hood of a Chevy. What makes you think a knife in the leg is going to stop me?" Buffy punched Hamilton repeatedly in the chest and stomach. Hamilton stumbled backwards, and Buffy sweep-kicked him in the ankles, bringing Hamilton to the floor. Hamilton struggled to get up. "And for the record.... Forever just got a hell of a lot shorter." She grabbed his head and twisted viciously, snapping Hamilton's neck and turning his head completely around. Hamilton fell to the ground with a final grunt. Buffy grabbed her leg and limped over to Connor. She helped him get to his feet.  
  
"Is he dead?" Connor asked.  
  
"Yeah, he's dead." The building started shaking and rumbling. Windows were cracking. The building was coming apart.  
  
"Uh, that's not good, is it?"  
  
"Wolfram & Hart." Angel said.  
  
Buffy ripped off the bottom of her black shirt and tied it tightly around her leg above the wound. "Looks like they're taking the gloves off."  
  
"What do we do?" Connor asked.  
  
"You go home."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"She's right, Connor." Angel said. "This is our fight."  
  
"That's some serious macho...." Some of the building debris falls on him. "Aah!" The concrete support beam fell from the ceiling onto the lobby floor.  
  
"Go home.... Now." Buffy said, hugging Connor tightly.  
  
"They'll destroy you."  
  
"As long as you're ok, they can't." The building rumbled as yet another concrete ceiling joist fell, crushing the balcony. "I love you, Connor. Go." Connor looked at Buffy and Angel before running down the hallway to leave.  
  
Angel looked around as the building crumbled before his eyes. He went into his office to get Eve. "What the hell is going on?!" She asked.  
  
"Looks like we're getting kicked out of the garden, Eve." Angel said.  
  
"Where's Lindsey?" Angel turned to go, but she grabbed his arm. "Where is he?"  
  
"He's not coming for you."  
  
"You...."  
  
"Time to go." Angel walked over to Buffy and scooped her up as he ran out of the building and to the alley where they were supposed to meet. He ran down the alley behind the Hyperion, carrying his sword and Buffy, running through the pouring rain. When he got to the chain-link fence at the end of the alley, he set Buffy down and they looked around for the others, but didn't see anyone. The sky thundered above them as the heavy rain continued.  
  
"Boo." Spike said, walking out of the shadows.  
  
"Anyone else?" Angel asked.  
  
"Not so far. You feel the heat?"  
  
"It's coming."  
  
"Finally got ourselves a decent brawl."  
  
Gunn came running down the street toward them, carrying his homemade battle- axe. "Damn! How did I know the fang boys and our number 1 Slayer would pull through?" His steps became progressively less sure, weaker. "You're lucky we're on the same side, dogs, 'cause I was on fire tonight. My game was tight." He almost collapsed, but Angel and Spike caught him, helping him to a box on which he could sit down.  
  
Buffy looked over Gunn's wounds. "You're know supposed to wear the red stuff on the inside, right?"  
  
"Any word on Wes?"  
  
Illyria jumped down from the chain-link fence to stand behind Angel. "Wesley's dead." Buffy looked heartbroken and Angel went to her, holding her tightly. Gunn cried and Spike hung his head. "I'm feeling grief for him." A crowd clamored in the background. "I can't seem to control it. I wish to do more violence."  
  
"Well, wishes just happen to be horses today." Spike said.  
  
"Among other things." Angel, still holding Buffy, looked at the approaching crowd. It was hundreds, if not thousands, of demons of all sorts, shapes, and sizes. A huge winged dragon flew angrily toward them overhead.  
  
"You take the 30,000 on the left...." Gunn said.  
  
"You're fading. You'll last 10 minutes at best." Illyria said.  
  
"Then let's make 'em memorable."  
  
Buffy and Angel stepped forward and Spike, Gunn and Illyria followed. Spike was standing off to Buffy's right side. Angel was flanked a step behind by Gunn on the right and Illyria on the left. Buffy, of course, was at Angel's immediate right. They stared at the horde of demons approaching them in the alley. "In terms of a plan?" Spike asked.  
  
"We fight." Buffy said.  
  
"Bit more specific, ducks."  
  
"Well, personally, I kind of want to slay the dragon." Angel said. The demon horde attacked. "Let's go to work." Angel swung his sword as Buffy did the same. They cut into the demons on all sides. Buffy knew the odds were stock piled against them and then some as the demons came at her in droves.  
  
"Don't you boys know that you're supposed to make a circle and attack one at a time? It makes things easier." Buffy swung harder and jumped as a demon tried to grab her legs.  
  
"Buffy!" Spike yelled.  
  
Too late. The dragon grabbed her and threw her into the brick wall. She was dazed and bleeding, but not out. She couldn't see any of her comrades and she prayed that they were ok as she threw herself back into the fray. She didn't know how many demons she had slain, but it had been too many and the Slayer found herself tiring.  
  
"Buffy!" A familiar voice cried. Xander? No.  
  
"Buffy!" Another familiar voice. "Angel!"  
  
That was Willow! Buffy felt her confidence level soar as she spotted Willow running towards them with Xander, Giles, and Faith at her side. Faith ripped apart the chain link fence and allowed the others to go through. Buffy couldn't turn to hug them or thank them for coming because the demons were swarming again. She cut a path and found her way to Faith's side. They moved back to back and fought viciously just like old times. The blonde Slayer saw Giles helping Angel to his feet and them fighting side by side. The dragon burst into a purple goo that showered the fighters. Buffy saw Willow nod in satisfaction and start working up another spell.  
  
Buffy no longer felt Faith behind her and she turned just in time to get sucker punched in the face. It went down hill from there for her. The demons took her sword and then worked on her. She was too tired and she was bleeding from what seemed like a million different wounds. Her arm hung limply at her side, broken. A glimmer of hope for her friends passed through her as she saw that the demons were thinning. A demon grabbed her head and slammed her into the brick wall. The world went black. 


	44. After the Dust Has Settled

A/N I am sooooo sorry it has taken me such a long time to get this new chapter up. My life has been on the chaotic side and on top of that, I don't have a computer. This was written at work while I had nothing to do in between guests and phone calls. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 44

A steady boop, boop, boop sounded in Buffy's ears. It was a quiet noise, but it seemed deafening to her. She opened her eyes, but closed them again as the harsh light invaded her sight. "Ow...." She groaned.

"Buffy?!"

Angel! He was alive. Her hand grasped the side of the bed, searching for him. His cool hand found hers and gripped it. She found she couldn't move her other arm. It was in a stint. Instead, she let go of Angel's hand and lifted hers to find his face. He guided her hand to his cheek and kissed her palm.

"God, you're awake. You're awake."

"Angel...." She croaked.

"Yeah?"

"Did we win?"

"We won. It's over for now."

Buffy smirked, but stopped when she found the movement hurt. "I wanna.... I wanna see you."

"Then open your eyes, baby."

"Light.... Too bright."

"Oh!" The harsh glare on the back of her lids faded. "That better?"

Buffy squinted her eyes open a little further. "Still hurts, but I'll live." She lolled her head to the side. "Hi." Angel looked completely battered, but Buffy figured it had probably been a lot worse before. She could only imagine what she looked like.

Angel held her hand to his chest and stroked her hair with his other hand. "Hi."

"How long have I been out?"

"A few days. It was touch and go until now."

"Spike?"

"He's fine. He's here somewhere with Faith."

"Faith...."

"Made it through."

"And the others?"

"Xander's in recovery. He was hurt pretty bad and they had to do surgery. Willow's with Dawn in New York. They have a lay over flight in the morning."

"Giles...."

"Is back in England. He's fine. A lot of bumps and bruises, but he's fine."

"Gunn...."

"Buffy, this really isn't the time to talk about this. You need to rest."

"Apparently, I've been asleep for days. No more rest. Where's Gunn?" She looked at Angel's sad, sullen face. "No."

"I'm sorry."

"How?"

"I didn't see. We found his body under a pile of dead demons." A hot tear coursed down Buffy's cheek. "Shh.... It's ok."

Buffy looked at him. "I thought I'd never get to see you again."

"It was looking pretty grim, huh?"

"How did they know?"

"Dawn. When she told them what we were doing.... They came."

"Couldn't let you fight a big ass battle like that without us, could we?" Faith said behind Angel.

"Faith...." Buffy smiled and then groaned. "Ow."

"When did she wake up?"

"A few minutes ago." Angel said.

"Hey B. How ya feeling?"

"Like Wiley Coyote after a two hour special of Road Runner."

"Nice."

"How'd you know where to find us?"

"Willow. She did a locater spell." Faith sighed. "You know, next time you scare us like that.... Your ass is mine. We thought you had died."

"I think I did.... Again."

"Well, don't do it again. At least not for a long time."

"Where's Spike?"

"Actually.... He's talking to Xander."

"Why?"

"He's been real.... I don't know.... Caring since that thing in the allet. It's weird, but it's definitely a nice change of pace for him."

Buffy went to sit up, but a sharp pain went through her side and back. "Ahh!" Anegl was there in a flash, helping her to lay back down comfortably. "What the hell was that?"

"That would be your gut wound." Angel said.

"And you bruised spinal cord." Faith said.

"When we found you, you were bleeding to death. Something stabbed you in your stomach."

"Must've been after I was knocked out cold." Buffy said.

"You were in surgery for a long time. Almost a day." Faith said. She laughed. "The doctors wanted to know how you got a gut wound like that when all of us were beat up and bloody. We said it was a car accident, by the way."

"I should be dead."

"Don't say that." Angel said.

"Sorry. But the way I feel and what you you two are telling me, I'm lucky to even be alive."

"I'm just glad you are. I don't know if I could go with just Angel here." Buffy looked over to see Connor walking in with a big bouquet of white roses and balloons. "Glad you're awake. I've been sitting at this hospital since Angel called."

"When was that?"

Connor kissed her forehead. "While you were in surgery." Buffy managed a small smile. Connor set the flowers and balloons down and walked over to Buffy's other side. "How're you feeling?"

"Been better.... Actually, it kind of reminds me of after I gave birth to you. So, it's a nostalgic kinda hurt."

"Well, we can tell you're getting back to your normal self, cause you're babbling."

"I don't babble." Buffy closed her eyes and could almost hear the collective gasp as they waited to see if she would open them again. "Don't worry." She opened her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Sorry, it's just been a bad few days." Connor climbed on the bed and laid down next to his mother. "They told us they didn't know if you would wake up."

"What's with the sudden affection?"

"Willow.... She uh.... You're my official parents now.... again."

"What?"

"She cleared my.... other family's memories of me and she returned everyone elses. I still remember my old family, but...."

"Connor...."

"It was my choice. When I thought that I might lose you.... Something in me clicked and I just knew that I had to be with my real parents. My real family. The ones I learned everything important to me from. I knew which life I belonged to."

Just then, a nurse walked in. "There's too many people in here. Family only please."

"It's ok." Buffy said.

"You're awake! I'll get go the doctor. It's a miracle!" The nurse ran out in a frenzy.

"Miracle?"

"You were in a coma, Buffy." Faith said.

"A coma? What.... When you guys said a few days, how long did you really mean?"

"About thirteen days." Connor said.

"Two weeks!?"

"No. A week and six days."

"How bad was I?"

"We told you." Angel said.

"No. You told me my injuries. Which is obviously just the icing. What caused the coma?"

"Massive head injuries." The doctor said, walking in. "You took quite the blow to the head. We were afraid that you weren't going to pull out of it."

"What do you mean?"

"The longer you were out, the less chance there was of you waking up."

"I'll just be out here." Faith said. She turned and headed out.

"Connor, why don't you go with Faith?" Angel said. "Let Buffy and I talk to the doctor."

"Ok." Connor kissed Buffy's forehead and left the room.

"So, first question.... When can I get out of here?" Buffy said. "I hate hospitals."

"Mrs. Summers, you're lucky to even be alive with the injuries you came in here with. You only just woke up from a coma."

"Forgive me for never thinking logically. Look, me and hospitals.... We don't agree. The sooner I get out of this place, the better I'll be."

"Buffy, just listen to the doctor, will you?" Angel asked.

"We're going to keep you here for at least another week." The doctor said. "You need time to properly heal."

"Which I can do at home." Buffy argued. "I don't know if you know this, but I heal really quick. I mean REALLY quick. So, there's really no need to keep me here."

"Yes, well, that may be so, but you're still going to stay here for a few more days. Just so we can be sure."

"Angel...."

"I agree with the doctor, Buffy. You need to stay here so you can get all the medical attention you need to get better." Angel said.

"Fine, but I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to."

"Ok, let me just look you over and see how your healing is coming along then." The doctor said.

Three days later, Angel was helping Buffy ease into the passenger side of the old black 1965 Plymouth GTX convertible. The little Slayer smiled. "Reminds me of the old days. Before Wolfram and Hart. I'm glad we saved this car."

"Me too." Angel said, closing the door to the passenger's side and heading over to the driver's side.

"Where's home?"

"What?"

"Since we don't have a penthouse anymore, where's home?"

"We're back at the Hyperion."

"That's good."

Angel started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. "But we're not staying there."

"Why not? I like it there."

"Giles wants us in England. You're the new Head Watcher at the new Coucil building."

"WHAT?!" Buffy snapped her body toward Angel just as they pulled over pot hole. "OW! Easy! Spinal cord still bruised and gut wound not compltely closed."

"Sorry."

"Why am I the new Head Watcher? Why not Giles? He's THE Watcher."

"You'll have to talk to him about that one." Angel smiled and chuckled to himself.

"What?"

"It's amazing how fast you end up the CEO of a worldwide faction for doing nothing, huh?"

"This time I had to have done something right. Otherwise, Giles wouldn't have put me in this position."

At the second stoplight, Angel glanced over at Buffy. "How're you doing?"

"Tired. Slightly achey."

"I'll try to watch the bumps more carefully."

"Thank you." Buffy sighed and laid her head back on the seat. "I could sleep for a few more weeks with the drugs they've got me on."

"Well, I won't stop you."

"Good."

"We're almost there."

"I thought you weren't going to stop me."

"I won't stop you after we get settled. There's a difference."

"That's false advertising on your part. I demand to see my lawyer."

"I move to have that motion striked from the record."

"On what grounds?"

"They're all dead."

"Good point. Motion stricken." Buffy looked over at Angel. "I miss Gunn."

"I do too." He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I would've missed you more."

"At least you would've known that I was ok. Pretty sure I have a renewable ticket to heaven.... Seeing as how my last visit was cut awfully short."

"But it was for the best."

"Yeah.... It was." Buffy sighed. "I need a shower."

"You look beautiful."

"I feel gross."

Angel parked in his old space behind the Hyperion and turned off the car. "Can you make it up all those steps?"

"The elevator not working?"

"Huh.... I forgot we had one." Angel opened her door for her.

"You got used to the high tech world and now that we're back to the normal world...."

He helped her out. "I'm thinking like a caveman."

"Exactly." Buffy kissed Angel gently. "I think I can manage without the elevator."

"You sure?"

"Positive." Angel held the door open to the Hyperion and allowed Buffy to go first. The place looked like they had never left it. But it was all different now. Instead of Corelia and Gunn bickering behind the reception counter, Willow and Xander were there working on the computer. Instead of Lorne organizing the weapons cabinet, Spike was putting weapons away in it. Instead of Wesley buried in a book in the office, Faith and Dawn were dusting and putting things away in there. Instead of Fred working on a new contraption for demon killing, Illyria was staring at the settee in the middle of the lobby.

"Buffy!" Dawn ran up and hugged her sister. "What's wrong?"

"Just.... It's weird being back here." Buffy said, gently hugging her sister back. "The people that are supposed to be here.... aren't."

"I know. I miss them too."

"Hey guys." Buffy waved at Xander and Willow.

"Hey Buff!" Will ran up and hugged Buffy. "We missed you."

"Yeah. What have I told you about that dying thing?" Xander asked. "You gotta cut that out. It's like a habit with you now."

"Yeah, I know. What was I thinking?" Buffy asked.

"Hey there, ducks." Spike said, holding up her favorite broadsword. "I manged to scrounge this out of a demon. Don't suppose you want it stuffed in this cabinet, do ya?"

"No way! That has to go in my room."

"Figured as much."

"Your room's all fixed up and waiting for you." Faith said. "Angel cleaned that out first thing."

Illyria walked over to Buffy. "I am most pleased to see you return to the fold. I would have mourned your passing."

"That's.... Great. Thanks." Buffy looked around. "Where's Connor?"

"In his room." Dawn said. "He didn't know you'd be here this early."

"Oh." Buffy looked up at Angel. "I'm going upstairs. I need to sleep."

"Ok. I'll come with." Angel said.

"No. You don't have to."

"You sure."

"Yeah. I'll call you if I need anything."

"Ok. Get some rest." Angel kissed her forehead and she headed up the stairs.


	45. A Change For the Future

Chapter 45

Buffy sat on her bed and stared at the phone. She had planned on calling Giles and telling him that she wasn't sure about moving to England. But something had stopped her. It might have been the sudden pain she had felt in her back when she had sat down on the bed, but she doubted that. England would be a nice change of pace and she felt that after Wolfram and Hart, she could handle anything. England was beautiful and the people were great, but did she really want to live there? LA was her home. It had been before Sunnydale and it had been after Sunnydale. This is where she belonged. The move to England would be a huge step to take. Buffy had Dawn to think about. Buffy had a son to think about. What did they want to do? Everything in Dawn's demeanor said that she wasn't happy with the move, but she would go along with whatever her sister thought was best. Connor was a different matter. Buffy couldn't tell what he wanted. And as for Angel, he would support whatever she decided.

"Hey mom?" Connor called from the doorway. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

Connor opened the door to her bedroom. "You didn't answer the door out there, so I figured I'd try this one." He looked at her. "What's up?"

"Oh.... I'm just thinking. Which is actually kinda hard on these drugs. Can't really focus without putting some effort into it."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Giles' offer to take over the Council."

"You should do it."

"You think so?"

"Yeah! You can handle it."

"It would mean moving to England."

"Oh."

"Not so fast to accept now, huh? Didn't think you would be."

"Do you want to go?"

"I don't know. I love it over there. It's beautiful. But LA is home."

"Then stay here. You can still be head of the Council here."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you're the head, doesn't that pretty much mean that your word goes on anything?"

"I guess so."

"Then say Council HQ is here in LA with you." Buffy stared at her son. "You didn't think of that, huh?"

"No." She smiled. "I have no clue where you got your smarts from."

"Well, it definitely wasn't dad."

Buffy laughed. "Be nice."

"I am." Connor smiled. "I KNOW I got that from you."

"Of course you did. I'm the queen of nice." She said sarcastically.

"Well, I'll let you get some rest then."

"Ok."

"Later mom."

"Later." Buffy watched her son leave the room and then picked up the phone. Giles answered on the eighth ring. "Geez, Giles, what would you have done if I was Ed McMann?"

"Who?"

"Never mind."

"I'm glad to see your very near death experiance hasn't dampened your spirits."

"Has it ever before?"

"Point taken." Giles let out a sigh of relief. "So how are you?"

"Tired. I just got out of the hospital yesterday."

"You should be resting."

"I know, but I needed to get this off my chest."

"What's that?"

"I've thought about your offer and.... Giles, I don't want to move to England." Giles started to say something, but Buffy stopped him. "Being the head of the new Council.... It's something I want to do. It's something I feel I'm capable of doing, but not in England. This is the 21st century, Giles. The old Council is gone. Time to base it somewhere new."

"And where would that be?"

"Here. In LA. Where the right people can get to it."

"And the Slayers?"

"We can leave the training camp there, fund everything from here, but I want the new Council to be here. There's plenty of room in the hotel."

"But Buffy...."

"No buts. You're either with me, or your against me."

"Well, it never did me any good to be against you."

"Nope."

"This is what you want?"

"Yes."

"How soon can you be prepared for the files on the Slayers we've rounded up so far to be delivered to the hotel?"

"You're going to deliver them here?"

"I'm going to make copies of them and send the originals to you. You'll need to know everything about them. And you'll also have to assign Watchers."

"We don't have any...."

"You'll have to hire some."

"Where am I going to find Watchers at!?"

"Well, I do believe you have a few people there who are perfectly capable of filling those shoes. As for the other Watchers.... Look for them. Believe me, they're not hard to find. There are some Watchers left out there that managed to escape the attack on the Slayer line. I can help you find them, if you wish."

"Good. Yeah."

"Very good. So, how soon can you be ready?"

"A week. Maybe two."

"Ok. I'll keep you posted."

"Giles?"

"Yes?"

"Why me?"

"Why not you? You've experianced more than any Watcher could ever hope to experiance. You know more about demons than any Slayer and your knowledge of the supernatural world is limitless. I have complete confidence in your skills, Buffy. You'll make the decisions that will bring the Council to a level that it never even imagined reaching before its demise. And you are the greatest person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing."

"Thank you, Giles."

"Goodbye, Buffy."

"Bye."

Willow and Xander were starting to pack books in boxes when Buffy walked down the stairs. "You can put those back."

"We're not moving?" Willow asked.

"Nope. You're looking at the new Council headquarters." Buffy said. "I talked to Giles and he liked the idea."

"Yes!" Dawn yelped. "Sorry. I was completly against the move."

"It's ok. So was I. Angel, we need to start cleaning out more rooms. Giles is going to be sending us lots and lots of files. We're also going to have other Watchers working here."

"Where we live?" Faith asked.

"We're going to save the top two floors. They'll be off limits to everyone but us."

"These renovations are going to cost a fortune." Xander said.

"We've got the money." Angel said.

"Yeah." Spike said. They all looked at him. "What? The last thing I did at Wolfram and Hart was rob their safe clean. I took everything from 'em. I'm willing to share it."

While everyone else was staring at Spike in shock, Buffy just laughed. "Good work, Spike. I'm proud. Should've thought of it myself."

"Thank you."

"And I want to make a plaque. One we can put somewhere where everyone will see it."

"A plaque for what?" Dawn asked.

"Honoring our fallen friends that sacrificed their lives in this absurd battle."

"That's a lot of names."

"I know." Buffy looked at her family. "Guys, this is a new beginning. The future of the world depends on us now. Can you handle it?"

THE END

(For right now.)


	46. A Word From the Author

A Word From The Author

I would like to thank my readers. All of them. Even though I've been forced to slack on my material, you've stuck with me. That means a lot to me. I'm going to continue with this story, but it may be a while before I can really do anything. I'm working on getting a computer that I can use at home or wherever I'm at. As long as you guys keep reading and responding to my work, I'm going to do my very best to keep bringing the material. Thanks again for making MOVB the story it is.

-BuffyL


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